It didn’t set well with me when Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook stated people are becoming more comfortable with sharing personal information online, thus basically giving up their privacy.
But when I read how Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google referred to Google+ as an “identity service” bells went off in my head. It’s not that I have a problem using my real name online, but it does make me wonder why it’s so important to Google.
Let’s face it, social networking sites are database gold mines filled with all kinds of information advertisers and/or governmental agencies would love to get their hands on.
The sad part of it is, we voluntarily fill those databases.
Today’s Lesson
In a previous lesson we talked about creating a digital footprint. We also discussed the importance of self-monitoring so what we share doesn’t lead to identity theft.
When we look at it as US creating a digital footprint, it sounds like we’re in control.
However, when we become aware others may be using the information we share on social networking sites to “profile” us, it feels like the tables are turned.
Let’s take a look at a sampling of how we provide demographics and psychographics with what we share.
We disclose our sex (gender) and marital status. If we have kids, we often say how many, plus their ages. We write about our likes and rant about our dislikes. We say where we live, talk about our jobs, our favorite foods, hobbies and the sports team(s) we follow. Some go as far as sharing their birth date (age) and anniversaries, too. Based on who we follow, our religious and political preferences become obvious. Some of us share our routines, where we go and how we got there (mode of transportation).
We share photos of ourselves, friends and children and write about our insecurities and our accomplishments.
In other words, we’re voluntarily profiling ourselves and offering the information for free while others are may be profiting from our ignorance trustworthiness.
When I look at it that way, I find it disturbing. But when I think of what I share as building my digital footprint, I feel I’m in control.
But am I?
Are you?
Today’s Assignment
Knowing what you share online could be used to profile you, will you change what, how and where you communicate online?
Care to share?
Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford and I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation. 
The job market as we knew it is changing and the change is affecting how we blog, how we interact online.
With the introduction of social networking sites such as MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, plus with us posting to our blogs; what we feel, what we think, what sites we link to and what we believe, is no longer being viewed by just a select few but possibly by “private eye” type companies hired by potential future employers, or even our current employer, to spy on us.
Today’s Lesson
Although Google and Facebook are usually the spots where potential employers or clients look for information about us, if a professional social networking surveillance company is hired, no stone goes unturned.
Take, for example, Social Intelligence Corp (a division of RivData), who describe what they do as follows:
Companies like this will find all of our blog posts, comments we left on other blogs, links we like, tweets on Twitter and posts on Facebook. Although we can delete some of the derogatory statements/photographs, if we’re in the job pool/market now, it may be too late.
Knowing this is happening can raise fear in bloggers. In fact, we may become so fearful, we either don’t start a blog or if we do, we become blogging sheeple, never expressing our true beliefs, but instead “playing nice” and acting like we don’t have a backbone. If it appears we don’t have an opinion or are wishy-washy on most topics, that could be construed to mean we cannot make decisions. Even small ones.
On the other hand, if we’re outspoken and share views that go against what a potential employer or client is looking for, would we be a good match for them anyway? And…would we even want to work for a company/client who isn’t accepting of opposing views?
I know some of you will say, “I’ll just blog/tweet/Facebook and use a pseudonym (fake name). That way I can say whatever I want”. In actuality that could hurt us. In the event our goal is to build up a clientele or develop a digital footprint which will benefit us in the future, all of the work we’ve done using the pseudonym could be wasted. Plus, not showing any online activity could appear suspicious.
Building a digital footprint and being aware of the breadcrumbs we leave on the world wide web can be daunting, however if done right, it could lead to great success and/or that dream job.
What say you?
Today’s Assignment
If your online activity was investigated, how would you score?
Based on your digital footprint, if you were in the market for an assistant, would you hire you?
Care to share?
For links to other posts on this topic, check out:
Photo Credit: Felipe Venâncio