I had a discussion last night about the advantages of Twitter and social media in general. There is a strange phenomenon occurring involving the issue of privacy and social media. Many of us lock down our Facebook profiles, some lock their Twitter accounts, and others just hide themselves altogether on the internet.

But in order to be “ahead of the game” (whatever that may be) you need to be very public, like a celebrity. It all started with the cell phone. Before the phone, we all would leave messages if someone was out, expecting a call later or the next day. Now, we expect a response right away. If someone doesn’t answer their cell phone because of a meeting, the caller texts expecting a response right away.

Granted, I don’t really care if someone doesn’t text or call back right away (I forget to do so sometimes) but admit it: subconsciously we all wonder what the person is doing that would hinder them from responding.

E-mail is even demanding a faster response with smartphones alerting users that an e-mail has arrived just like a text message. People want fast responses.

So the privacy of not being “bothered” by a phone call, email, or text is gone.

Many of us love to brag about where we are through Foursquare, Gowalla, and Twitter.

So why do we complain about privacy issues?