Do You See Me Now?

Facebook allows users to upload and tag photos of anyone in their network. Once tagged, you anyone in your network can see these photos. There has been some concern about how this "feature" will impact job searchers as Human Resource (HR) organizations become more connected to social networking sites.

This tagging process on Facebook is manual, however, there is new start-up on the scene, Polar Rose, that dynamically tags photos using face-recognition software. This takes the HR concern to new levels as photos are uploaded by friends and foes alike and you may (or likely) may not be aware that photos of you have been uploaded.

With the growing concern for privacy as well as international security and the beginning stages of HR groups incorporating social networking technologies into their recruiting practices, what are the pros and cons of something like this?

Schenker, J.L. (2007, December 24). Finding Faces in the e-Crowd. Businessweek, p. 70.

Who's Really In Control?

I came across a fascinating quote recently in Wired Magazine. Spencer Reiss was interviewing Nicholas Carr about the future of technology. They covered the idea of dummy computers, privacy, the global network, and how we interact with computers, but the most fascinating quote was:

We're beginning to process information as if we're nodes; it's all about the speed of locating and reading data. We're transferring our intelligence into the machine, and the machine is transferring its way of thinking into us.

How are you seeing this in your business?

SOURCE: Reiss, S. (2008, JAN). Do You Trust Google? Wired, p. 42.

Privacy and Accuracy

Seems like just the time I settle in on a service of choice (for me it is my LinkedIn page), I receive a new request to join another colleague's network, which of course is based on their preference.

BusinessWeek reports an interested trend as more professionals create their online presence using these tools. A growing number of statups are aggregating information from various online sites like FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo and others to "track people and their reputations" as well as provide a single source for editing and maintaining their online profiles.

The challenge is around privacy and accuracy. For example, I recently received a request to join a colleagues network on Spock. When I arrived, I found several threads from other profiles I had created online, but also threads for others with my name, but who are clearly not me.

For the record, while these are real facts for others that share my name, they should not be showing up on my page on the Spock site:

Senior Project Manager at Northrop Grumman

Member of the State of New York Legislature in 1788

These can be confirmed by voting on or off one's profile, but the individual must go to the trouble to do this on a regular basis.

From a workplace perspective, what should be taken into consideration when creating online profiles and how can you protect not only your privacy but also your credibility as those who do not know you may become confused as they are unable to distinguish names and who they belong to?

SOURCE: Stead, Deborah, ed. (2007, September 24). It Isn't Just YourSpace Anymore. BusinessWeek, 13

Unintended Broadcasting

One of the features of many social networking sites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, MySpace and others is the ability to control the connections between family, friends, and colleagues and share information with them that others outside the network cannot see.

Whether it is contact information, lists of favorites, or other bits of information, this feature is in large part one of the strengths of these tools which draw people together because of some shared interest or experience.

Many of these sites are seeking ways to make a buck. The most common way to do this is either to provide features that are only available by agreeing to pay a subscription to access these features and the other way is to incorporate advertising.

Steven Levy asks an interesting question about FaceBooks move to integrate "social advertising" into its site. This feature essentially generates an "ad" based on products or services used by its members. The problem Levy identifies is that these ads are not controlled by the members but are rather auto-generated by the site.

There are numerous issues raised with this type of approach ranging from member privacy, control of information to unintended "sponsorship" of products and services used by members.

From a workplace perspective, what issues are raised as members make personal choices for products which may be from competitors? Should employees fear retaliation from their employer as this information is "broadcast" to their community (which may contain co-workers) without their knowledge or permission?

Levy, Steven (2007, December 10). Do Real Friends Share Ads? Newsweek, 30.