Have you ever read William Gibson's IDORU?

what you say here is exactly the main gist of the plot, being able to deduce psychological and other motivations from people's lifestreams online

Spooky, indeed, but as you say, if you do not want to deal with complications later, just stay off the internet or mentally filter before you go posting that drunken table dancing exploits!

[...] Jeremiah Owyang of the Web Strategist discusses a few of the implications of the copious amounts of personal information that Generation Y publicly shares through social networks. Any open (as in anyone may join) community that serves business executives will face a major challenge managing these implications and the surrounding privacy issues. Most business executives need to be very careful about what information they share and who they share it with. [...]

That may be a wonderful thing. Maybe it’s grand that many people are choosing to move beyond the fears to simply be and express themselves freely and openly.

[...] Owyang in his usually excellent semi-inquisitive style has a thought provoking post on if the social media world will know more about Generation Y than the [...]

I’d add that Twitter as the social computer is really about being a game show contestant on stage once you have a large audience of followers. Sure, they might not really know you but as the audience they will seek to guide you from Door #1 to Door #2 or shout out the answers you need.

The ribs example is a good one that taps into the historical wisdom. However, the crowd might not know if your daily special side item was a poor choice or if you are vegetarian. So, with the social computer, it is important at times to frame the exact question sometimes and narrow the scope.

By contrast, having a small audience is more like the magic 8 ball.

[...] Update:  Government isn’t Little Brother’s only target, of course.  We can already surveil each other w/ unprecedented ease. [...]

I’m pretty sure we have some of this data, we’ve done research on this topic before. Are you a client?

Has any of your research indicated what Gen Y *thinks* about the implications of the information they share on Facebook?

My assumption (based on my own childhood) is that most of them haven’t considered the consequences of their actions. At that age, I certainly didn’t =)

It’d be an interesting question to ask – “Gen Y, you share X, Y, & Z on your social networks which would enable person you don’t know to figure out 1, 2, 3, – are you comfortable with that?”

@Rex – the body of law (in the US at least) appears to favor the networks. In any public setting it’s generally acceptable to take pictures of anything you can reasonably see that is also in public. A corollary could be drawn to any website that is publicly accessibly. Though IANAL.
http://photojojo.com/content/tips/legal-rights-of-photographers/trackback/

Two majors points in relation to this great post.

The first is the openess with which Gen Y provides personal information. It’s as if we never developed that filter you mention and it’s already beginning to cost us. Embarassing party pictures finding their way to the screens of prospective employers is just one example. The sooner we learn how valuable our personal identity is, the better.

The second is from a pure marketing point of view. Of course personal information needs to remain just that – personal. But marketeers across the globe are desperate to get their hands on everything from your likes, dislikes all the way through to your inside leg measurement! It’s all with the aim of providing you, the consumer, with exposure to products your more likely to purchase.

Recently the BBC’s Money Programme revealed there are companies actually listening in on private conversations on social networking sites. Frankly if I don’t know you, I don’t want you reading my ‘wall’. But what would I give to read yours…?

Michael
(31 inch inside leg….you see! We just can’t help it!)
http://www.pr-media-blog.co.uk

Have you ever read William Gibson’s IDORU?

what you say here is exactly the main gist of the plot, being able to deduce psychological and other motivations from people’s lifestreams online

Spooky, indeed, but as you say, if you do not want to deal with complications later, just stay off the internet or mentally filter before you go posting that drunken table dancing exploits!

The way you pose this post (Social Networks could have more information….) is at the core of my concern: Who “has” the information — the user, or the entity that owns the Social Network. Obviously, we are now at a place in time when those entities believe the information is *theirs*.

There are other entities – D&B, the credit bureaus, banks – that have more intimate information about us than the Social Networks, however, that data could easily be bumped up with the data we provide the Social Networks.

However, getting back to your question.

A few years of IRS forms could probably trump all the information contained in Social Networking OR credit report information.

And then there’s the whole question of how that personal image you create – persona or real you – and how that impacts your professional identity. Someday I’ll actually get my thoughts collected about this…