ION Digital

The spread of social networks is now showing its dark side: the loss of privacy. There was an uproar a while back when Facebook subscribers found out that their online shopping sprees were being automatically reported back into their FB profiles for all their friends to see. You can imagine the surprise when they open up their FB profiles. “Hey, look what Seth bought at Victoria’s Secret this week!” So FB did a quick reverse and added some new controls but the cat was out of the bag. Now everywhere we turn, we see our privacy being invaded.

It happened to me twice the last week, first on Yelp when I wrote a short restaurant review and–presto–it showed up on my FB profile. No one asked, I was never given the chance to opt out or opt in. But there it was, my review of an Italian restaurant (which I skewered). (more…)

Some cool sites I’ve stumbled upon recently:

1) Top 100 marketing blogs (amazing array of bloggers)

2) Linked-in vs Facebook (compares new features as Linked-in tries to catch up)

3) You Tube adds new personalized profile pages (finally)

4) 5 ways to make social media a part of everyday life (for all of us who struggle to keep blogs going and do everything else)

5) Most popular social networking sites around the world (you might be surprised that Facebook isn’t usually #1 outside the U.S.

6)Chris Anderson and the freeconomy : The decline of Big Media and rise of Niche Media. Wired editor Chris Anderson on “Freeconomics” and how it will change the media world (also see Wired Magazine this month)

For fun: 79 years of Oscar posters