Embarrassed About "Drunken Night Out" Photos? Worry No More...

It's been a funny old week, hasn't it! We've slid into October; a time normally of coldness, endless crunchy leafy pavements and that sad first morning where you have to spend five minutes scraping ice off your automotive pride and joy. Not this year. We've enjoyed a very un-British 29C here, and we've seen personal computer legend Steve Jobs pass away. These are indeed odd times, especially as the number one thing that most people seem to be talking about is neither of these two suggestions. Instead, it is the new layout for Facebook. Basically, they've changed it from a simple chronological line (which makes sense) to a mishmash of posts from here and there. Mostly there. Now, I can't quite get the whole brou-ha-ha about it all, as it sits in my priority list alongside a minor political dispute in Southern Bengal, or EastEnders. The biggest thing that people seem to be flapping their arms about, apart from the hilarious claim I mentioned last week about Facebook charging for their services, was the concern about privacy. Apparently, if you go out partying and post drunk pictures of yourself on the Internet, then other people may see them! I know, right?

That aside, I can understand the problem. I mean, we don't have curtains on our windows just to stop Johnny Burglar from eyeing up our flat-screen. Sometimes, we may decide to throw reason to the wind, don the mood of decadence and shamelessly watch an entire episode of Made In Chelsea. Maybe two! You might just intend on heading out for a "quiet" drink (as opposed to those awful noisy drinks) and notice that, oh dear, Nigel seems to have put his drinking trousers on and it will become a long old night, which may or may not see you end up feeling ill in the morning and gulping vast quantities of tea and bacon. Whatever it is that people do, they always seem to be worried what would happen if, say, the boss found out about their drunken escapades. If it's you with a glass of Chablis in a trendy wine bar (that used to be a bank) then you won't care, but if it's you sprawled across your living room floor, mumbling incoherently to yourself while somehow wearing a traffic cone, you might not want your mother-in-law to use this against you, and you know she will! The Boss must see you as a clean, honest, respectable businessperson who spends their evening relaxing, and your friends must see you as so awesome that you make an amoeba wish it had opposable thumbs.

Indeed this is not just new-age paranoia fuelled by the Daily Mail convincing you that some foreign ID thief will use your tipsy picture to defraud the world and become a super-villain, a lot of businesses will Google someone before they hire them. Imagine if you're down to the last two for your dream job, and the last thing they see before choosing is you collapsed in a hedge, with Lambrini tipped down you, while you gently serenade a hedgehog. It'd be galling to lose out because of a night out that you aren't sure if you can remember. It therefore makes complete sense to want to have as much privacy as possible, so initially I can totally understand why this is a big issue. However I have seen an interesting article by a lady called Cindy Gallop, who proposes a better option. She genuinely doesn't worry about online privacy, or hiding her Facebook account. She isn't fussed about anyone finding out about drunken shenanigans, nor is she worried about the discovery of her secret habit of watching terrible TV. This is because, rather than try to fake her public "image" by hiding those antics that she doesn't want people to hear, she simply doesn't do the things that she'd not want people to find out about.

She doesn't worry about someone taking a picture of her being ill after a few too many glasses of wine, because she doesn't drink too many glasses of wine. She doesn't worry about a secret habit that she's tried to keep secret, she simply doesn't do anything that she'd be embarrassed to tell anyone, or for a total stranger to know. Quite simply, it's a case of asking yourself "who are you", then making sure that you act like this. Don't want your boss or family to see drunk pictures of you, then do something about it in the real world rather than hiding it away. Always wanted people to call you selfless and caring, well then act it! They will do eventually. This may sound boring at first but look at it this way: she's totally un-embarrassable! Hell, she's totally un-blackmailable! You worried about people finding out about a hobby of yours? Why are you doing it then if you're embarrassed? Or instead, why not remove the privacy settings and do away with the constant worry of someone finding something you'd rather they didn't. People don't trust others when they feel they're keeping everything secret, so, why not try being transparent in what you do?

That way, you won't moan every time Facebook does something. Also, you won't have to think of an excuse to where your trousers ended up on your last night out, and most importantly, you'll be less inclined to actually watch TV programmes where the stars only seem to be able to pout and be orange.

*image credit 

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