Robin Wilton’s post on Google Buzz hits the nail(s) right on the head(s). The benefits of social networking center on human-to-human connectedness and collaboration, but the entire “social networking” construct obscures the fact that it’s really human-to-application-to-human. In revealing information that its users never authorized nor expected to be revealed, Google has created digital shadow cruft.
Tangled musings on identity, privacy, trust, and suchlike
“Why do free social networks tilt inevitably toward user exploitation? Because you’re not their customer, you’re their product.†– @barrywellman