The Innocent Age of Reputation

In The Future of Reputation, Solove discusses how social media and networks have invaded and completely interconnected our lives. The Boston experiment of mailing letters showed that even before the advent of the internet and social media, it was indeed "a small world after all." If it was true then, it has only been amplified and the gossip chain has been shortened with today's social media. But, many think we are only starting to see the implications of those never ending connections. Solove says that social media is changing the way gossip, rumors, drama and therefore reputation circulates and functions. He says "Information that was once scattered, forgettable, and localized is becoming permanent and searchable  Ironically, the free flow of information threatens to undermine our freedom in the future." (4) The changing speedways of information are also changing the interacts between people - their views of themselves and each other.

Celebrity Emma Watson thinks she is starting to see these effects, at least for the younger inhabitants of the World Wide Web. In a speech at the launch of her new movie The Bling Ring, she gave, what this article called "a scathing attack on social media." She purported that young girls are becoming concerned about their physical appearance at a younger age, and that is hyper awareness is caused by the infatuation with social media, specifically posting pictures. She said "I think it’s amazing how self-aware people are becoming as a result of constantly posting images on Facebook and Instagram...They’re blissfully unaware their childhoods are being shortened. That period of time when you’re not self-conscious is sped up." Watson's comments are not out of line with the subject of the movie. The Bling Ring, based on a true story, is a movie that catalogs the impact of social media and the to achieve that perfect image of stardom has on a group of young teens. The director, Sofia Coppola, originally read the story in magazine said,'I think their quotes really struck me; how they didn't seem to think they had done anything wrong, and how they were most interested in the fame the robberies had brought them.' 

Watson's idea totes that what Solove that the world is shrinking and that people are being pushed together - is having a real impact on how we interact with each other. Maybe it isn't in the form of a viral attack on 'Poop Girl', perhaps it is instead in the form of how this constant connection and comment changes our vision of ourselves. Solove says "We used to worry about big brother - the state - but now of course it's our neighbors, or people on the subway" (9) or our image of ourselves. Together these forces are completely altering the way we function socially. Watson's observations are probably just the beginning. The age of innocence may well be over.