Online Privacy

It seems like privacy is becoming more of a issue with the internet becoming more mainstream. Everyone and anyone can look at someone's profile and know what school they went to, what job they do, who their friends are, what they look like, where they live and even their cellphone number - if they're silly enough to list it.
People need to be more aware of the World Wide Web. That's exactly what it is, world wide.

With profile sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo, they allow users to personalise their profiles with pictures and personal information. They also allow people to add and decline friends as they please and by doing this, it means that more friends they add, the more people out there in the wide web can see their information and pictures due to links.
However, it seems as though Bebo and now MySpace are a dying breed, at least in my opinion, people are now moving onto Facebook. I think it may be because of the simple design and it's a lot more private. By this I mean that they allow an option where you can select people to see your "Limited Profile". This is an option that allow users to customise and put things that they want their "weak ties" to see, for example. I think it's a good idea, especially if you're a serial friend adder, i.e. someone who values the amount of friends they have. It allows people to add whoever they want but also keep personal details private and open only to those they know in person.

I do think that people still need to be more weary of their privacy...profile sites such as Facebook can only protect your personal information to a certain point. I think it really is down to the user to make good decisions on who they are adding. Many profiles are fake and only want to be added so they can gain information for marketing purposes or even hacking purposes.

Maybe think twice before you add the next "friend" to your profile, even though they might be the one who will finally achieve your goal of hitting one million friends!