Today, technology and its endless advancements in society are more vital than ever before. Everything revolves around technology, so much so, that without it many of the processes we take for granted wouldn’t function properly. Social media is at the center of this all. The emergence of social media in the past two decades has completely changed our way of common communication. With the few clicks of a button we can update the world about where we are, what we are doing, and even what we are thinking about. As a result, social media has become the driving force in our generation, it is what intertwines our lives with the lives of other people around the globe. Through social media, we are able to stay in touch with people that we would have otherwise forgotten and connect with people we would have otherwise never met.

Connection and availability serve as the fundamental keys in all of social media. It is with our connection to these websites that we become a part of civic life. In the novel The Circle, which takes place in a futuristic society, connection also plays an essential role in society as seen in lines such as “We consider your online presence to be integral to your work here. It is all connected,” (96). This reinforces the idea that to Circlers a person’s civicness is focused around his or her online activity. The important connection the company has with their employees and the outside world establishes a relationship between the two concepts of data and privacy. The relationship these two common themes have within the book are interdependent of each other.

As seen throughout the novel, the company is dedicated to the collection of data. There is practically nothing the company doesn’t collect. From the hidden cameras located around the campus to collect and record the employees involvement to the obtainment of health records and other documentation on all of the employees, just showcases the severity and intensity The Circle has in compiling data about their company. The sheer amount of data the company is willing to collect correlates to their belief on the idea of privacy. To virtually all members at the Circle community privacy is extremely selfish. In the line, “You realize that community and communication come from the same root word, communis, Latin for common, public, shared by all,” demonstrates this ideology that secrets and other hidden information are not accepted (96).

While reading this section of the novel, the connection between the importance of data and privacy to the Circlers strongly reminded me of the song “Fingerprint File” by the Rolling Stones. Although the song was first released in 1974, it is still prevalent both in today’s society and in The Circle’s modern one. The song first gained a lot of attention with the media for the song portrays the paranoia surrounding the government and an individual’s privacy. The lyrics reveal this underlying feeling of never being safe from the government, for they are always watching. It initiates a deep rooted fear into the listeners that no matter what they do, they can’t escape from the government’s track on them.

This belief the Rolling Stones had of our government and their constant watch of us is exemplified through The Circle’s desire to know everything about everyone in the novel. Through the constant monitoring and recording of the employees, The Circle makes sure they are never truly alone. Many of the subliminal messages in the rules and codes that the Circle enforces in their company condemn the freedom of privacy. As seen in the first section of the book, quotes like “All that happens must be known,” (68) instills the idea that nothing can remain a secret, everything must be shared. The actions the company takes to ensure that nothing is being hidden from them reflects the very fears the Rolling Stones had with our government back in 1974.

The relationship data and privacy have in this section of the Circle seems to be a reoccurring theme in the novel. Due to the distaste of secrets, the company continually collects large amounts of data on their employees and also their customers so that no secrets may occur. A person’s privacy, as a result, is virtually no existent in the Circle community. This connection between data and privacy links to the idea that with the advancement of technology in our civic life, people will have to become more inclined with the fact that nothing they “own” is safe from unwarranted searches. With the continual growth of social media, we might face a Circle situation in which we are no longer allowed to share parts of our lives through the occasional post, we must, instead, share everything.