A blogger on Lifehacker.com
recently conducted an unscientific study regarding online privacy by lowering
his security settings and signing up for location-based services, such as Foursquare. The results were interesting because
after 3 weeks he had opened up to the idea of using certain location-based
services, which kind of forced him to widen his social circles and keep in
touch with friends who happened to be in his neighborhood. Admittedly, he did
have some strange run-ins and one instance when he was caught in a lie by
broadcasting his information. Anyone who’s been using social media for any length
of time has had that awkward conversation with an acquaintance who seems to
know all about what you’ve been up to even though you haven’t spoken in months.
The part that I found really interesting was this writer’s
distaste for personalized ads. He even went so far as to say that he purposely
avoided buying products that advertised directly to him. I know I have a somewhat
skewed view of advertising since I am in the marketing industry, but I always
thought personalized ads were a convenience. I’m careful about securing my
personal information, such as my social security number and bank account, but I
am pretty open about my online habits. My feeling is that if you’re going to see
ads no matter what, wouldn’t you rather see something you might be mildly
interested in rather than ads for things that have absolutely no value to you?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
1 comments:
You make a good point about convenience, however, some people get a bit paranoid when they think their habits are being monitored. They would prefer their online habits remain anonymous.
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