The issue is though is that people think that a different level of privacy should be associated with their data than their friends data.

For various reasons for the last few months I've been considering disconnecting entirely. I lived before facebook/twitter and I'm sure I'll survive after them. I can't really think of anyway that facebook/twitter actually makes my life better in aggregate.

Why is it essential to my life that I see every stupid meme?

Why is it essential to my life that I heard about every political travesty in the world?

Does it really affect my life? What benefit do I gain from knowing these things?