Caution: Social Media knows YOU

Before the advent of social media and blogging, one's conversations, preferences, likes, dislikes, consumer behaviour and activities were discussed or done and then vanished or remained as memory that faded with time. Now, as consumers and citizens have converted these into recorded actions on social media sites such as Twitter (thoughts and conversations), Facebook (preferences, activities and more) and many other similar websites, these remain as a record over an indefinite period of time.  Every website you visit, comment you make, link you share or product you buy is recorded and stored indefinitely.

The question is when will this data be used to create a profile of you, who you are, what do you and everything around you.  Essentially, these social media sites now have the data to enable them to know who you are, what you like to do, where you go, who your friends are, what you buy and by synthesising these data can understand you better than you understand yourself or any of your friends or family understand or know you.

The risk is that governments (by decree), companies (through purchase) and even illegal enterprises (by hacking) can, at some point in the future, access this data, combine it to create your profile and then use it to for their own means.  Yes, at this point in time, privacy is paramount for online consumers but in the long run, it is not you who determines privacy - it is the government, the companies and the hackers that decide this.  The consequences of a change in practice and policy will be very dangerous to both the individual and society.  Moreover, it will happen after all the data about you has been collected and stored.

The question for you is, how much and what should you be sharing on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, and on the Internet in general?