I like to write stories. But sometimes, I am curious as to how many people actually read them. So for a brief moment, I thought- “how about I find out how many people read my stories ?” But to do so, I had to create some js tracker on my site (maybe github provides one by default, I don’t know), but wouldn’t that be stalking ? Why is it my business to know how many people visited my site.
To know how many people visited my site, I’ll have to distinguish each user in some way- that itself opens up a way to some kind of fingerprinting.
I did not want any of that.
I thought to myself-Why did I even want to know how many people read my works ? Didn’t I claim to write because I liked writing ? I guess it is a basic human tendency to seek some form of validation, even if you consciously reject it. In the end, I chose to not act on this kind of tendency - but it also made me think : There are so many people who do yield to that kind of tendencies.
Maybe that is why there is so much tracking on the web. Humans are hardwired to gather information on other humans- It was necessary for their survival. Even more so now, I guess. But tracking a mass of random people ? That instinct has gone too far unnecessarily. Maybe that does benefit some people, and if you are one of those people who do get benefited, I do not blame you for doing it. I believe that ethics is a survival instinct, but I’ll write on that in some other blog. But either way, if tracking lots of people does not disturb your life, then I guess you are free to keep tracking people.
But I’m writing this for the people who feel offended being tracked. Maybe you should just turn Javascript off on your browser. Maybe you should not visit random sites or download random apps. Because if I wanted to, I know that I can track people on a static looking site. It is even easier on a non readable binary. The motive for tracking you can be as innocent as wanting to know how many people are using their work. But the internet is a scary place. People’s internet personalties in general get worse and worse by the day. There is no saying what they could inquire about you. The concept is quite enticing. Would you not like to know what is happening in the lives of your schoolmates or co-workers ? I know I would. But I would not like to be the one being spied on.
What I’m saying is, the motivation is there. So, just in case, beware.