“Mom, you cannot check my messages. I need my privacy, please!” Adam, my 10-year-old son, said to me while I was helping him sign up for a new e-mail address. I could not answer back and I was rather quite surprised by what he said.

My little boy, who still enjoys bedtime stories, is now arguing with me about his e-mail privacy and his new presence on social media. I do not know when or how this happened but it seems my son also shares the global obsession with privacy in our digital world.

There are hundreds of articles that tell us how to protect our names, photos and information online. But are we really looking for privacy in social media and the Internet in general, or do we sometimes directly or indirectly seek to reveal everything about ourselves, from our favorite clothes, foods and drinks, to our thoughts and even dreams?

Governments are deeply concerned about protecting sensitive information and therefore tend to restrain what their employees can say on social media. Parents also worry about what photos their children might post online. For example, some of my close friends get very upset when their teenage children post family photos on Facebook and ban them from doing so.

Precaution is understandable when it comes to one’s own privacy. It is normal for parents to worry about their young ones and try to protect them from the deterioration of social bonds caused by developments in technology. In the 1960s many parents were greatly worried by the emergence of rock music which they thought would destroy the morals of an entire generation.

Today, many are concerned about what social media will do to our lives and our children’s lives.

Social media users are under increasing pressure in terms of what they can and cannot say. Our concept of public opinion is largely dependent on our presence on social media. I do not know if privacy even exists in this digital era or whether the word has obtained a new meaning.