Jason Sanford

We can only hope Google+ squashes Facebook like the privacy-killing stinkbug it is

I'll admit that headline is partly tongue in cheek, but it does express my sincere dream of Facebook's ultimate fate. And I say that as someone who has used Facebook for years and will continue to do so for the near future.

Here's the thing: I'm neither an extreme privacy nut nor a let-it-all-hang-out-online type of guy. Obviously I don't mind sharing some personal information about myself since I have Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts, and I'm writing this essay on an extremely public blog. These days if you want to keep everything about your life private your only choice is to drop off the grid, become a wanderer, or be a Unabomber-style hermit (just don't mail your 50 page manifesto to the NY Times, causing your brother to recognize you). Honestly, this shouldn't surprise anyone—human society has always placed a premium on knowing all we can about each other. Go back to any human village or community over the last 10,000 years and you'll find absolutely zero privacy. Everyone knew everything about you.

Aside from hermits, wanderers, and off-the grid individuals, it was only with the rise of large cities that people could escape from this all-intrusive knowledge about their lives. With large cities, it was possible for people to disappear into a large mass of humanity. You could reinvent yourself. You could become anyone you wished.

Of course, this isn't to say that people don't also know lots about you in large cities. But the possibility to create your own private space was at least there.

And now along comes social media, which threatens to take us back to the dawn of humanity. We're reverting to village groups again, where everyone knows our business.

As I mentioned, I'm mostly okay with this. So far the benefits of social media have outweighed the negatives, at least in my own life. However, two things I do demand are the abilities to control what information I put out about myself and how I interact with others online. And that's where Facebook continues to spit directly in my face.

I don't have major issues with their new Timeline feature. It is what it is. However, what I absolutely hate is the continuing lack of control Facebook gives me over my own social media experience. For example, I used to know instantly when anyone responded to one of my posts. Not anymore—those reponses are hidden in a blizzard of Facebook notifications. I've recently missed several comments from friends who posted on my status updates.

I also hate how Facebook makes it difficult for me to control all of my privacy settings. Everytime I try to change a setting, I spend a half-hour hunting for the spot where Mark Zuckerberg's drones hid said control. 

This poor Facebook experience was driven home for me when I recently examined my Google Dashboard. Talk about a complete 180 from Facebook—privacy information from all of my Google accounts was centrally located and easy to both understand and change. I'll admit that when Google announced its recent privacy changes I was concerned. But as long as they continue to offer something as brilliant as their Dashboard, I'll accept their privacy rules. Google understands that people want to both control what they put out and how they interact with others.

And that, I surpose, is the point of this ramble. I accept that by using social media I am giving Facebook, Google, and other places valuable information about myself. For now, the benefits I receive make this worth it. But Facebook is quickly failing in this cost/benefit analysis.

Facebook is now the used-car salesman of the social media world, forever trying to trick you into signing away more than you intend. Google, though, understands that they don't have to trick people into buying their groovy social media car. Yes, Google makes mistakes, but at least they lay out the information for you and allow you to make most of your own choices.

So for now I'm okay with the direction my social media village is going. Since so many of my friends use Facebook, I'll continue to show up there. But I also hope Google+ keeps growing and threatening to squash Facebook like the bug they are. Because I suspect the threat of being squashed is the only way Zuckerberg and company will eventually realize that their business model must be based on giving people the control they desire—and not the lack of control Facebook currently embraces.

Two items of an extremely exciting nature (if you like my fiction, that is)

InterGalactic Medicine Show Awards Anthology, Volume  I

Spotlight Publishing, which released my collection Never Never Stories, has now published InterGalactic Medicine Show Awards Anthology, Volume  I. Edited by Orson Scott Card and Edmund Schubert, the book collects stories from Card's online magazine and includes an introduction by Peter S. Beagle and stories by me, Beagle, Eugie Foster, Aliette deBodard, Marie Brennan, Alethea Kontis, Eric James Stone, Scott Roberts, James Maxey, and many more.

You can order the book directly from Spotlight Publishing, who are also offering a limited number of copies signed by both Card and Schubert. The book is also available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

StarShipSofa Jason Sanford episode

In equally exciting news, the Hugo Award winning audio fiction magazine StarShipSofa has released a special issue focused on my fiction. The issue features two of my stories, an essay narrated by me, and tons of other fun stuff. StarShipSofa is one of the top SF podcasts in the world, so go check it out.

My picks for the 26th annual Asimov's Readers' Poll

The 26th annual Asimov's Readers' Poll is open for votes through February 1. As is the norm, Asimov's had a very strong year in 2011. Unfortunately, I was limited to three votes in each category. But I could have easily voted for twice as many stories.

My votes for the awards are as follows. Please note that while the actual votes for the award are ranked in order of preference, my list is organized by author last name.

Best Novella

• The Man Who Bridged the Mist—Kij Johnson
• Kiss Me Twice—Mary Robinette Kowal
• Stealth— Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Best Novelette

• Two Thieves—Chris Beckett
• Clean—John Kessel
• Corn Teeth—Melanie Tem

Best Short Story

• Smoke City—Christopher Barzak
• Shipbirth—Aliette de Bodard
• Movement—Nancy Fulda

Best Cover

• September—Maurizo Manzieri
• March—Marc Simonetti
• October/November (for “The Man Who Bridged the Mist”)—Paul Youll

“Heaven’s Touch” sells to Asimov’s and I go all touchy-feely daydreaming of childhood SF magazines

My grandfather's mid-December 1983 copy of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, featuring the Hugo-winning story "Speech Sounds" by Octavia Butler. Note the mailing label still attached.

Exciting news: my novelette “Heaven’s Touch” has sold to Asimov’s Science Fiction! The story involves a race for survival on a near-future comet and is one of the hardest science fiction tales I’ve written.

This will be my first appearance in Asimov’s and I want to thank Sheila Williams for both accepting the story and giving me a number of excellent suggestions regarding rewrites. I naturally took these suggestions to heart because only a fool argues with a Hugo-winning editor whose ideas vastly improve your story!

Obviously I like Asimov’s since I subscribe to the magazine. However, Asimov’s also played a critical role in my development as a science fiction writer. When I was growing up there were three SF magazines I daydreamed about writing for—Analog, Asimov’s, and Interzone.

Because I grew up in rural Alabama, finding an issue of the British magazine Interzone was out of the question. But I continually noticed that many of the stories I loved in the various “year’s best” collections were first published in Interzone. So while I may not have seen physical copies of Interzone as a young man, the magazine still influenced me greatly.

Analog and Asimov’s were more familiar since my grandfather collected SF magazines. But of the two, my grandfather clearly had a special place in his heart for Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine—as it was then called—because he was a subscriber. I remember once when my mom picked up my grandparent’s mail while they were away on vacation. The mail contained a new issue of Asimov’s and I stared at that magazine for a long time, wondering if my grandfather would notice if I read it first.

I still have copies of my grandfather’s Asimov’s with his mailing label attached. They’re among my most valued heirlooms.

Once I left for college I subscribed to Asimov’s. This was during Gardner Dozois’ famous editorship, when he won the Hugo for best editor nearly every year while the stories he picked also dominated the major awards. On days when the magazine might arrive I’d race to my apartment, hoping to discover a new issue. The first thing I'd read each month were Issac Asimov’s editorials, followed by story after story from groundbreaking authors like Michael Swanwick, Connie Willis, Tanith Lee, Greg Egan, Mike Resnick, and many more. I even submitted a few horrible stories and poems to Gardner during those days—thankfully he rejected them quickly and without fuss.

And now I’ve landed my first Asimov’s acceptance. It’s amazing that I’ve placed stories with all the magazines I used to daydream about. But it’s also damn exciting to place a story in a magazine like Asimov’s, with which I’ve had such a long, loving relationship.