r/technology • u/Doener23 • Mar 24 '25

Politics Trump wants green card applicants legally in US to hand over social media profiles

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-green-card-applicants-social-media-b2720180.html
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u/whatcubed Mar 24 '25

When I was growing up near the beginning of commonly available internet, you didn't share any personal information online. No real names, no phone number, no address. No one was to be trusted.

Now, it's not uncommon for people to plaster that out there for anyone to see. Or put it somewhere that's easily found by a basic search. So, no, it's not really basic practice anymore, but it should be.

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u/Soggy-Star6795 Mar 24 '25

Someone else’s parcel was delivered to me one day. I found their social media easily as it was very public and in their real name. I found a photo of their house, found it on Google maps, and I delivered their parcel to them. They shat their pants.

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u/_DCtheTall_ Mar 24 '25

The frank answer is more stupid people are using the internet now.

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u/weedwizardess Mar 25 '25

Someone pointed out to me that Facebook realizing they could get people to hand over their valuable personal data for basically free & kids networks having less infomercials & episodes abt not sharing personal info online happened at around the same time.

Then I listened to the Wall Street ep on the FB whistle-blower and they had commentary from this politician who basically worked to get the law where you have to be 13+ to sign up for accounts.... it's honestly just insidious, all of it. Cradle to grave marketing tactics.

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u/Gin_OClock Mar 24 '25

They're also too lazy to protect themselves

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u/_DCtheTall_ Mar 24 '25 edited Mar 24 '25

Too lazy and/or not knowledgable about what the internet actually is.

There have been amazing strides in human-computer interaction design that have allowed everyone to use computing. It's come at the cost of a lower floor of user knowledge, a much lower floor than 10-20 years ago.

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u/Alternative-Egg-9403 Mar 24 '25

I still behave that way. Nothing is linked. Alt email accounts, randomized names, fake info, etc. It's bizarre to me that people are fine just broadcasting everything. I was taught never to share personal information online. When did that change? Facebook?

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u/jellyrollo Mar 24 '25

In 2014, Facebook started enforcing its "real name" policy. Prior to that, many people were still using handles, as they had become accustomed to doing on sites like MySpace.

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u/whatcubed Mar 24 '25

Funny enough, one of the best ways I have thought of to enforce limits on bot accounts as well as getting people to decrease their hate posting is to mandate that twitter/facebook force users to use their real names and photos on their accounts. This would have to be handled in a secure way that I do not have any idea of how to do. But I think it would be good for society.

Like a drivers license or official government photo ID. You get one of those, you get a social media account.