Facebook and Privacy.....A threat to the public sphere?

Recently there has been a lot of controversy arising around facebook. While there have been many criticisms about what is posted, who can see it etc. I think the largest problem is of privacy. Whether we realize it or not, Facebook contains a lot of fairly personal information about whom we are. Aside from what we choose to tell people, which may include phone numbers, email addresses, street addresses, birthdays, friends, interests and much else, people can essentially tap into our lives through pictures, videos and conversations with others. While much of what is on facebook is accurate, I worry that what people see is a small glimpse of a person and may be mistaken for an accurate depiction. Personally I can attest to the fact that the judgments people make after looking at my facebook page are inaccurate. The idea that employers are now looking at facebook pages also scares me. I do not believe employers should legally be allowed to critique or judge someone’s behaviors outside of work, provided they are not shattering laws, if it is not effecting their ability to perform the duties of their job.
More importantly I believe that privacy online, or at least anonymity is very crucial to the political success of the internet. People should be free to say what they want without fearing undo repercussions. The ability for the blogosphere to contribute to the public sphere I strengthened based on people being equal outside of the internet. In this sense prejudice of all kinds are eliminated based on erroneous external factors. Racism, sexism and other common problems are avoided based on the fact that people only know what you let them know. Our reputations are built online, separate from the rest of our lives. This is very important and hopefully will remain part of the blogosphere.