As part of my senior thesis project, I am currently designing a website that will depend largely on input from online visitors. In order to allow users to submit information, I have to withhold a certain amount of trust in them. The biggest issue I'm having to face is that in order for users to upload files to my server, I have to lower the security of my site and trust that people will handle their power responsibly. When I had first thought up this idea, it hardly dawned on me that potential visitors could abuse this power. Now I realize that this is a legitimate concern; not only in the coding of my site but as an issue of human nature. In other sites I've worked on, there was less of a relationship between the viewership and me. Because there was no need for interaction beyond reading, we were kept separate. With my new site, I am thrust into direct contact with each anonymous person that will come across my site. They become more than readers; they become co-creators. I am really interested to see how this relationship will pan out. Since there is no way of knowing how people will interact with my site, there is a great amount of uncertainty (but also excitement) in relinquishing some of my control and letting people mold what I've created.
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