Like any other online social platform, Facebook offers people an opportunity to tell the world about themselves and learn more about others. However, publicity is always associated with privacy issues that should necessarily be considered by users. It is natural for Facebook users to share something with their friends and family online, but not all of them want the world to know everything about their personal life. To cater for the needs of such users, Facebook offers specific functions to manage one’s personal data. There are privacy settings that allow users to hide information from the public and select friends they want to share it with. Moreover, Facebook offers detailed guidance on how to make information private and manage one’s profile responsibly. Nevertheless, controversial situations still occur, like that described in the case.

A girl posted a photo of herself in a bikini on Facebook. Someone used that photo as an example to show in a community seminar urging people to be careful about what they post. Naturally, the girl was offended by such behavior because she believed that only friends and friends of friends could see this photo. One the one hand, it seems that it is the girl’s fault that she did not use the privacy checkup tool offered by Facebook and did not pay enough attention to her privacy settings. From a legal perspective, there is nothing wrong with the decision to use the girl’s photo because it is public data easily accessible online. On the other hand, I believe it was not ethical to use the photo without the girl’s permission, especially for the educational purposes.

To summarize, this case vividly demonstrates the implications of using Facebook and highlights the importance of considering privacy settings before uploading any personal data. Facebook is a public place, and public posting is the default on this website, so users should carefully choose what they want to tell others about themselves and how it may affect them.