Marketers and academic types are watching you.

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3 commentsMonday, December 17, 2007

All Eyes On Facebook

Marketers and academic types are watching you.

3 Comments

By Henry Griner (WPN reader) - Tue, 12/18/2007 - 08:26

Not much is private on the Internet including Facebook

I find it very interesting that someone posting anything on the Internet, be it on a Blog, personal web page, company staff profile, MySpace or Facebook, would turn around and complain about lack of privacy. The reality is that apart from information shielded within a membership website or a secured website with limited access, your information is there for the world to see almost forever. I have talked with managers in H.R. departments that tell me they now "Google" a persons name just to see what they can find out about them. Of course, this may not result in finding information that is specific to the person they are interested in especially with more common names, but it can at times prove helpful if not just a little interesting. Working as an Internet Marketing Technology Consultant I teach people how to use the tools available to build their online home based businesses. Facebook and other Web 2.0 sites are places where relationships can be established and built to help build a business. Those that try to "Hard Sell" members in these communities are going at it all wrong. Bottom line. If you don't want the universe to know something about you, don't post anything online with your real name or photos that include you. If you do, don't cry about "Big Brother" watching. Henry Griner Technology Consultant http://www.whoishenry.com

By Robert Cerff (WPN reader) - Thu, 12/20/2007 - 06:36

Too true

I couldn't agree more Henry. Too long many have been paranoid about "Big Brother" watching them. But lets face it... Big Brother has known about you since conception! Deal with it. But as you quite rightly pointed out, if you post something online and people find it, don't cry about it. If sensitive material that you never posted was being shared... then you have a real issue. I don't ever really foresee any of these social networks becoming secure enough for anyone to be confident that what they post will only be seen by a selected few, or even just for archive purposes.

By deni (WPN reader) - Thu, 12/20/2007 - 05:44

Information should be used, but not abused!

The question is not to post or not to post, because Internet is integrating with our society more and more and it's not really an option to stay away of it. And this is normal.

The question is what to post.
Meaning, Internet for a long while was a place where one can be completely free and do and say whatever he/she really pleases. And not pretend to be someone else.
Now people become aware they are not invincible or invisible even in the Net. There are two ways to see this: a) you hate it, because it threatens your freedom and you find a way to fight it-either trough indignation or just hiding better or b) you accept it and admit that change in your life- that you no longer have to fight and hide yourself, because no matter what you are, you're personality deserves to be seen and appreciated (if it's harmless to other people, of course).

Now, for me it's more or less the second, though I must admit I wouldn't feel comfortable if my professor finds my talks about sex or stuff.
But then, it's natural! Our life includes all of it, then why we should be ashamed of it?

Now, for me there is one key moment. That information is free and available but any study on it, should be with the subject's agreement. And all those networks should include an opt-in opt-out feature that will inform the user that his/her information is available and whether that user is agree that it could be used for science, market or whatever.

I'm not sure how we can prevent desperate marketers to search trough social sites, but it's one to do it personally and other thing to do it professionally on large scale.
Such behaviour is easy to spot and should be controlled by the social network and should be subject to laws and limitations. Same goes for any other researches. The network should provide info about you only with your consent. And this we must fight for!

Yes, if you blog, you share your personality as you like for everyone to see. But in FaceBook or Myspace you do not. You're there for the fun. You're there to contact another people on so many levels of contact. And that's exactly why your privacy should be respected. What we say or publish about us is act of our will, how we interact with other people is more a reaction to the situation (which includes both online and off-line factors and the second are rarely known) and thus should not and could not be used as a measure for our personality.

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