The Internet and social networking have taken over our lives.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't go more than a few minutes without logging on to Twitter or Facebook or the Internet in general - to catch up on the latest news and sports headlines from around the province, in Canada and around the world. We have become a society that needs to be plugged in 24/7 - and I'm no different.
Many of the Facebook and Twitter posts that I read and post myself are for work purposes and our company continues to embrace technology and continues to serve our readers with not only the print format of our newspaper, but on-line versions as well.
Social networking has not only become another tool in our journalism bag of tricks, it's become essential to do our jobs more effectively.
It's also an effective way to stay in touch with friends and family, post photos of fun vacations and events, even use as a forum to talk about the great movie you saw on the weekend, the latest best-selling book you can't put down or the trendy new restaurant you just tried and are encouraging others to visit as well.
Facebook and Twitter are useful for so many things, but at what point do Twitter and Facebook become tools for the government to invade our private lives?
That's the hot topic of debate going on across Canada as Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is under fire and under attack - with threats to his life on Twitter - which erupted in Ottawa last week, as continued backlash against proposed Bill C-30, the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act.
The bill, if passed by politicians in Ottawa, would give police forces in this country more power to snoop on the on-line communications of Canadians. The bill has been met with much opposition from the Liberals and New Democrats and from Internet privacy and civil rights groups, who say the bill would create a state surveillance system of Canada's Internet.
And while I see the point of the law enforcement agencies that they should be given all the tools to fight against illegal on-line hackers and sexual predators on the 'Net, I don't agree with opening up Pandora's box and giving the government and law enforcement free reign to invade our private lives.
I also find it kind of ironic that the debate is hitting a little too close to home for Toews as those who disagree with the Bill have encouraged some to Tweet Toews to death - and there have been actual death threats to his family, which are being investigated by the RCMP.
This I certainly don't agree with. You can get your point across without doing so in a threatening manner. Yes, Toews is a politician and a public official, but he is also a human being with a family, and these types of actions are criminal and should not be condoned by anyone.
Toews' private life is also being put under the microscope. As well, nasty details of his divorce case are being made public, which is also pretty despicable.
What started out as a debate on how much those in power should know about us has turned into how much we should know about them.
