I love Facebook. It's the perfect medium for tracking down long-lost friends, getting in touch, and then reminiscing. Which is great. (Even though I wouldn't say anything there that I wouldn't say here in my blog)

But as they luxuriate in the warmth and camaraderie of a technology that seems calculated to invite dredging up these long forgotten memories, I think lot of people might be forgetting something. While being a Facebook friend with someone may create the feeling of safety and intimacy (as if you're settling down in front of a comfy fireplace) doesn't the fact that this is all taking place online make that safe and intimate feeling a bit of an illusion?

What I am trying to say is this. How many people would take the time to suddenly and out-of-the-blue hunt down a long lost friend's email address, and then start sending emails back and forth, fondly recalling a passionate love affair, LSD trips taken together, or a drunken evening culminating in something very embarrassing that both parties regretted? I think there are a lot of people who would never do that, because as we all know "email is not really private, and anyone could read it." (Like the evil George Bush, who read everyone's email, and invaded everyone's privacy.)

But with Facebook, there don't seem to be the same concerns. Even though government snoops are just as entitled to conduct Facebook fishing expeditions as they are to read email.

Which means that everywhere that Dubya went, Obama's sure to go.

I don't mean to single out Obama, and it would be redundant to point out that the 4th Amendment still exists, and his administration is bound by the same Constitution as Bush's. Rather, I think there is something about online technology that lends itself to fatalistic thinking, which in turn leads people to accept what they never would have accepted even ten years ago.

"There's nothing you can do about it!"

"You might as well live as if everyone is watching your every move, because they are!"

So if you bare your life on Facebook, it's no big deal. That's what Facebook is for. It makes baring your life a warm and fuzzy experience.

Don't get me wrong. As I said, I've grown quite fond of Facebook. It's just that I don't have illusions about it being "safer" than email, but I think a lot of people either do have such illusions, or they've reached the point where they no longer care.

I certainly hope that the technology isn't helping them not care.

And I also hope that there isn't a generational surveillance gap, because my worry is that kids who grew up under surveillance might come to believe that privacy doesn't matter. (In much the same way that people who have no free speech rights cannot be expected to respect the free speech rights of others.)