zlacker

IMHO most of the article is based on bad attribution. Culture of conformity and risk-aversion is primarily an (intentional, not side) effect of social retribution / punishment and fear of it. Transparency / lack of privacy is just a factor that makes social retribution easier, not a primary cause.

As transparency has its own advantages (it leads to high-trust society), perhaps should rather support freedom of speech as a fundamental societal value. If i believed that expressing myself would not lead to losing job, losing housing and being shunned by friends, why would i self-censor in my self-expression?