Twitter and Big Brother

I consider myself technologically hip, but having been a student of history, I was reluctant write every thought I had down for public consumption on Twitter. I am someone who hates traffic cameras, and the thought that someone could track my movements on a GPS is downright frightening. This attitude is not because I engage in criminal behavior. It's because again, I have read and watched what has happened to those who might say something that the government doesn't like. Now I realize some may think my attitude is slightly paranoid, but that is because, frankly, they lack a sense of history. They forget that

...in Stalinist Russia no one was safe, and literally anyone might expect the dreaded "knock on the door" after midnight by the secret police. One did not have to be "guilty" of anything, needless to say: everyone was a target for arrest and the gulag or worse. Stalin the Mass Murderer: How many victims? Posted by William D. Rubinstein

Stalin used spies to justify capturing and "disappearing" every intellectual who opposed him (or, rather, those whom he perceived as opposing him). What if we tweet something that can be used against us later? What if your joke is taken too literally? What if you oppose something popular or support an unpopular cause? The government, employers, creditors, and thieves all have an interest in what you are doing.

The lack of privacy depicted in 1984 is a world that I did not want to live in.

Winston is painfully aware of the telescreen, which is both a receiver and transmitter at the same time. It incessantly relays messages from the Party and simultaneously allows the dreaded “thought police” to tune into the activities of any individual at any given time...(Chapter 1, 1984, George Orwell).

And yet, here we are, incessantly relaying our own movements and thoughts and allowing others to "follow" us.

Yesterday, some of us were talking about how Twitter was being used at sporting events in order to curb unruly fans. Someone bothering you? Tweet his seat number and watch how fast security shows up to lead him away.

You might think this is great - Yeah, remove those annoying people! Report them!
What about the impact on our culture with the loss of semi-innocent behaviors? Teenagers sneaking a drink or smoking in the boys room, concert goers lighting up some "herb" before the music starts -- will you report them?

I worry that the we have become have become the collective Big Brother.

Do we gain something by using Twitter? Certainly.
Do we lose something? Certainly.
Will I Tweet about this post today? Certainly.