On giving too much info away on TikTok
I did a fun case study in a beautiful place — pls consider its implications
Traveling to new places, taking pictures, and having people figure out my location is not just a way for me to help you understand the amount of information your social media posts give away — it’s also fun!
What’s the point of cautioning you all against creepy Russian intelligence operators and other annoying people who could do unpleasant things with your data if we can’t have fun along the way?
Even now. Well, actually — especially now.
So, one of my recent challenges had the following twist:
As usual, the internet swiftly delivered. Congrats to Omnigeek:
And a big congrats to Dan, who was the first among my followers and friends to use my TikTok data for a geolocation challenge:
I was excited to post my location to TikTok (don’t worry, I still take my own advice: I posted it after I’d left, and also, I had a male friend along with me, as I usually do when I go to explore an unfamiliar place), because a lot of people don’t yet understand just how much info is given away on TikTok daily. If your kids are using TikTok, I would love it if you had a conversation with them about it.
I don’t mean yell at them and tell them to delete the app — if you’re just joining me, I need you to know that this method is highly ineffective, not to mention the fact that it backfires — but also, they should be aware of what they’re doing on the app.
Obviously, I had tagged my location in the TikTok video I posted about Bolivar Heights Battlefield, the beautiful place where I was standing that fall day, but the point of the exercise was showing you how a location can be traced across different social media channels. You may think you’re being super private when you post something on Twitter, without realizing that it can be cross-referenced on TikTok.
I’ve seen a lot of people do this, actually, including a guy claiming that he was fighting in Ukraine when he was doing nothing of the sort. His TikTok account had given him away. Because he deleted his tweets and apologized, I decided not to make a big deal out of it — the dude is sixteen years old, when I was sixteen, I was busy crying over a boy who’d grandly told me, “I’m leaving you for a freshman, she does what she’s told,” we’re all dumb at that age — BUT I wanted the rest of you to be aware of how cross-referencing can influence your privacy.
TikTok can be a huge boost of serotonin for me personally, although I’m aware of its myriad privacy risks, including the risks presented by its owners. I tell everyone with a sensitive job, and there are many people like that in my area, that they should not have a TikTok account. TikTok is a vivid example of the double edged sword of social media: It has some of the most amazing creators I’ve ever interacted with, and it’s also an app that carries implications that, in my opinion, are far scarier than the current mess engulfing Twitter and its new ownership.
I don’t write this newsletter because I want you to throw your phone into the river and go start an off-the-grid marmot farm, or whatever it is that people do when they despair of the world. I don’t think despair is healthy, and I think most of us are better off living in a society, as weird and scary as it can be.
However, I don’t want you to be blindsided by the nature of social media and the devil’s bargain we have struck with it. This is why I was so excited to do this exercise and to share it with you.
Harper’s Ferry is a gorgeous little town. Its history, and the story of the Civil War battlefield I visited right outside it, made me think a lot about societal instability. The world has gone off the rails many times before, and while social media and the internet in general make it so that any craziness feels more immediate to us, the truth is, you still have to do what you must.
I do my work and you do yours, and if you’re reading this, I hope we give each other hope. Hope should go both ways. Always.
Speaking of hope, big thanks to Brian for this gem:
A world in which people photoshop Lord of the Rings characters into my geolocation photos is a world I want to save, always.
As usual, I am grateful to you for reading. I’ve had to suspend my subscription drive due to how busy I’ve been, but it’s still very important to me that you subscribe! Please don’t forget that paid gift subscriptions are available to all who want to share my delicious bonus content ❤️
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