A Privacy Question: Facebook Art

In October of 2006, three Columbia students unveiled an unsettling art exhibition entitled "Exhibition" in the Postcrypt Art Gallery on campus. The "art" was Facebook profiles of several Columbia students plastered on the walls.

Some students snatched their profiles off of the wall, while others stomped off in sheer disgust.

In recent news, Martha Martinez, a Mount Holyoke student, had an exhibition titled "The Panoptican: A Facebook Installation." In her artwork she used "private" pictures from students on her campus, eliciting the same response the Columbia students did two years earlier. 

The students involved in both exhibitions had the same motive, to inform and shock students about the unlimited access Facebook provides to unsuspecting users.

Martha Martinez was able to post pictures of Mount Holyoke students she wasn't even friends with because Facebook allows fellow students to see the profiles of other people in the academic network. This can usually be prevented by using the privacy feature on Facebook, but few students take the next step to protect their information.

Tips for Facebook

1. Use all of the privacy measures possible.

2. Do not use profile pictures that are lewd or inappropriate (keep those for your albums).

3. Do not post phone numbers, addresses, or personal information.

4. Do not accept friends for the sake of bolstering the number of friends you have on the site. Accept people you actually know and reject everyone else.