Social Media: The End of All Privacy?

At an event last week I was caught in a conversation with someone who felt the need to share (vehemently) his theory on the scam of social media.

This gentleman (lets call him Ed) is of the opinion that LinkedIN was created to gather people’s information under the guise of social networking… until the owners sell it – making boatloads of money and taking all your private information.

For me, as an educated (I try to be anyway) user who has sat on the sidelines watching the tool develop before jumping on the proverbial bandwagon, Ed sounds like Mel Gibson from Conspiracy Theory.

It’s important to note that Ed’s fears are not entirely unfounded. In late 2007 a social networking site known as Quechup received alot of bad press for allegedly sending spam emails to the entire contact list of each user (without the user’s knowledge). While Quechup denies these issues in a statement September 17th, 2007.

This is exactly why I encourage people to not be “early adopters” of technology in which you put your personal contact information. Wait a while, until you see a couple of buyouts or until people smarter than you are using and recommending the software (not to imply anything about your IQ – having friends smarter than you are is an integral part to staying safe in the technology age). Read more