putting yourself out THERE

Before your read this post, read this article : Four Reasons You Should Remove yourself from Facebook.
http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/30/four-reasons-you-should-remove-yourself-from-facebook/

I know alot of people who don't believe in putting yourself out THERE. So exactly what are the risks of joining facebook and the likes of it?

To the article's first point:
Employees have perks to snoop around. So your point being....??? And the point of joining social networks being....???? There's a voyeur in everyone of us, we watch others and others watch us, and we portray ourselves the way we want others should see us.
Users can control what they put online. Honestly, if anything, your online profile can be a perfect decoy for who you really are if you want to hide your identity. And even then, no one will bother to snoop around u unless u are interesting.

2nd point and 3rd point are actually the same point. Giving up your database and targetisments, and this actually makes advertising more efficient. That means no more Viagra advertisements and potent bakblu drugs UNLESS you need it.
Like it or not, we're walking billboards ourselves. I have more than 50 brands from head to toe, there is no way we can escape advertising. And it helps that at least we'll be seeing messages useful to us. Behavioural targeted advertisments doesn't just benefit advertisers, it also acts like a natural filter to the consumers.

The article ends of with the writer saying that one day, a media conglomerate will buy up all our database and surfing history and they'll do something really bad with it. Sounds like a potential blockbuster movie? Maybe there already is. I don't know if you've watched The Net with Sandra Bullock.

Other than mankind's natural instinct to be voyeuristic, i believe that survivial instincts are even stronger. We'll figure out ways to protect ourselves against risks like identity thefts.

I am not encouraging everyone to sign up with every social network there is right now. But rules apply, be discerning about information you give out and privacy protection clauses. Other than that, enjoy what it does for us. Like Fire, the internet is a good servant but a bad master.

Let me tell you a story. My friend overdosed when she was in her early twenties. And there's absolutely no way of remembering this person other than her little friendster profile that will always occupy a few megabytes in cyberspace.