Social Reader and social reading on Facebook

We've all seen posts like this on Facebook.  At what point is this going to ruin your life?

There came a time when what you did in your life was your own business, or at least the business of yourself and the handful of people in your immediate vicinity.  Then the Al Gore invented the Internet and made everyone instantly reachable at any point in time.  We've come to the point in harnessing this medium that I can now talk to anyone, anytime, using a myriad of services to do so.  Unless I'm trying to call my wife, then there is no hope.

Now, we even have the ability to know what news articles people are reading.  That's neat, we like it at Truth Sauce when you guys "like" our posts, or share them with people you know, it's what makes us successful.  However, how far are we going to take this?  At what point do we not need to know what people are reading?


Maybe you have a creepy side that you just don't really want people to know about.  It took me years to finally add Wildcard! as my friend on Facebook, because, well, it's bad enough that he knows my phone number, but now people know I know him.  Does StevieTodd really want the shame of seeing what kind of blasphemous things I read about?  No one wants to see this....

What I do on my own time is my own business... or at least, it used to be.

Also, topics that are socially taboo, for example, your new girlfriend farting, or your parents having sex, they just don't need to be discussed, right?  This is the kind of thing that you can read about all you want in the privacy of your bathroom, but don't bring it into Facebook, alright?  Trust me, it's for the best, this one hits close to home.

Seriously, just put the Yahoo! down and step away slowly.

It's probably safest not to let everyone know about every single thing that you're infatuated with. I mean, it's okay to have a few books on Nazi Germany in your bookshelf because you're interested in the psychology of a bruised nation and it's willingness to follow a charismatic, albeit evil man down a path of wickedness.  But if you have more than a few books, and a few magazines, and a maxed out Kindle, and a lifetime subscription to "How to Kill Jews Monthly" in your iBooks Newstand, you should probably erase your public library records and just stick to black market, cash only transactions.

Seriously, Cletus, we get it, but that swastika looks nothing like a flower.

It's cool to think about reading another article your friend read, then when you see them again you can say, "Oh, hey, Tim.  I noticed you read that article about all the stuff that is being used to make our food better is also making 11 year old girls have racks the size of porn-stars!  Yeah, I like that too."  But aren't we getting away from the fact that just because a thought occurs in your head, it shouldn't be published to the world every time you think it?