Just networking, huh?

Question: how can you appreciate something on one hand and find it unsettling on the other?

It’s not unlike shaking hands with the devil. He’s smiling, yeah, but it’s coy and clever. Not completely all-knowing, but darn close; troubling, but in an odd, subcutaneous way.

It’s something I experience whenever I browse MySpace, YouTube, Facebook or other such sharing or networking sites. Each has its merits and abilities, but I’m frankly astounded at the amount of personal information people offer online.

Facebook will command 60 million users by the end of 2007. That’s huge. Couple that with the traffic on YouTube and MySpace and Google’s uncanny ability to reference people, places and things and you can imagine that not much is sacred in cyberspace.

I’ll admit, it’s great to interact. But do you ever get the feeling there’s too much out there?

Some concerns for me about Internet access are data mining and the security of third party applications. Silly and paranoid as it sounds, I believe it’s naïve to think no one’s watching while we surf.

There are people and/or organizations that browse the ‘Net regularly to cull personal data and the safeguards we take for granted on a secure system (if, in fact, such a thing exists!) simply aren’t part of the equation. If it’s posted, it’s fair game.

For instance, Facebook admits it does not screen or approve Platform Developers, nor does it govern how such agencies use personal information. And there’s a ton of Platform Developers encouraging your click on Facebook. If you initiate the application, the interface allows the developer access to your posts.

It’s probably nothing, of course, but I can’t help thinking of Nietzsche: when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.

Facebook et al are relevant in that they provide fast and effective communication tools. People who may not have a voice for whatever reason are granted a forum. In that regard, I endorse the opportunity. It’s freedom of speech to the nth degree.

But these portals are now megalithic, runaway trains full of passengers who have no idea what waits at journey’s end. And that’s why I question the ultimate utility.

It’s no accident that video-sharing sites like MySpace, gobbled up by NewsCorp, and YouTube, purchased recently by Google, were considered plum acquisitions. Millions – mostly young people – populate the sites and there’s money to be made through advertising and the sale of information gleaned from interaction online.

Why else would Microsoft buy a 1.6 per cent share of Facebook for $246 million last month? Better to be in the game than not, of course, but it’s also what the site affords; data that enables corporations to frame policy, entice advertisers and generate revenue.

Sharing and networking sites are popular and convenient. That’s the appeal for users, but they also serve a purpose most people recognize and don’t acknowledge or miss entirely.