The concept of “good fences make good neighbors” is reflected in walled gardens, which are restricted places only accessible to members. Examples include cable TV packages, iPhone services, and Facebook. Some walled gardens offer more privacy, such as subscription-only services for children’s safe searching or gaming. However, it’s important to understand the limitations and security measures in place before joining a walled garden.
Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” has an oft-repeated line, “Good fences make good neighbors,” voiced by Frost’s neighbor as they mend the wall between their two properties. The idea, at least according to the neighbor, is that a certain degree of privacy can translate into a more civilized environment between two people who live close together. This theory underlies the concept of walled gardens in the media, especially in various Internet communities.
A walled garden in the simplest definition is a restricted place that only members have access to. In cable television, a kind of walled garden is seen when subscribers purchase channel packages. You’re essentially limited to the channels you order, and unless you decide to upgrade your package, you won’t have all the channels available. Another example of the walled garden occurs when people buy products like the iPhone®. Currently Apple® prevents users from purchasing any other telephone connection service other than that offered by its company. You cannot use Verizon® or any number of other services with your iPhone and therefore access is limited.
Early email programs were often walled gardens. Users can only send emails to users of the same system. But as Frost mentions in “Mending Wall,” “Something doesn’t like a wall.” This has clearly shown the case as email has advanced, and instead of building walls, email providers have built connectivity between different email programs and providers so that people could reach almost anyone else with a email address, regardless of which service the other person is subscribed to.
Some early Internet Service Providers (ISPs), most notably AOL®, such as cable companies, offered specialized services and unique information only to their subscribers. You may not join an AOL chat if you weren’t a member. This aspect of the walled garden often took people straight out of the garden to more accessible amenities, but there are probably some privacy aspects that are helpful.
Current walled gardens include Internet sites such as Facebook® and Flickr®. At Facebook, for example, the people who are allowed to message you or view all of your information are the people you invite. On the other hand, this privacy may be a bit of an illusion, with the decision of such companies to allow searchbots to collect information from Facebook users. It suggests a wall transparency that people might want to be aware of when posting, just like they might not dive skinny-dipping their backyard if they realized their fences were made of plexiglass.
Other walled gardens offer more privacy and can be subscription-only services or paid-subscription services only. They may offer guarantees not to release your information to third parties. Some sites, for example, are aimed at safe searching or Internet gaming for children.
Not only are these gardens walled, but they can also be moderated to prevent sexual predators from targeting the children. However, children have yet to understand before using the Internet that providing personal information essentially defeats any wall. It can be helpful to use the metaphor of a walled garden and ask a child if he really thinks it’s safe to invite a stranger into the backyard or backyard.
There are those who rail against enclosed gardening of any kind, but a more moderate approach is to suggest that occasionally service limitations have a protective place. For those who prefer a presumption of privacy, consider how high the wall is and what security measures are in place for your protection. Read the terms and conditions of the agreements carefully to see if a walled garden really protects you as you would like. This can also help you determine how limited you might be within the scope of your activities from within the walls.
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