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[url="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9159679/Mike_Elgan_How_Buzz_Facebook_and_Twitter_create_social_insecurity_"]How Buzz, Facebook and Twitter create 'social insecurity[/url]

Computerworld - An insurance expert told the Britain's Telegraph newspaper that using location-centric mobile social services like Google Buzz, Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare could raise your home-insurance premiums in the future, or even result in the denial of insurance claims.

Wait, what?

A gag Web site launched this week called "Please Rob Me" raised an ugly but obvious truth about location-based mobile social networking: When you tell the public where you are, you're also telling burglars you're not at home. The site originally displayed a real-time stream of Twitter and Foursquare posts that might interest criminals.

Twitter has since pulled the plug, apparently, and now all posts are from Foursquare. Each post begins with the user's name, followed by "left home and checked in" followed by an exact address of where the person is.

Insurance industry watchers like the one quoted by the Telegraph predict that after customers get burglarized and file claims on stolen property, the insurance companies will probably investigate to see whether the customer broadcast information over social networks in a way that constitutes "negligence." They could also make "social networker" the insurance equivalent for home insurance as "chain smoker" for health insurance -- a category for higher premiums.

In my "Inside Google" blog yesterday, I wrote a detailed post titled "How to rob somebody using Google Buzz." My point was that even though Twitter and Foursquare can expose users to crimes, Google Buzz is even more compromising.

You can read the rest by clicking on the title link.

Alright, I'm not some kind of misanthrope entirely hostile to social networking, but lately I've been finding that the whole trend has become extremely invasive.
I value my privacy and I don't like to have social networking thrust upon me. Maybe there's a reason I don't want to be easily "found" by people I attended high school with. Or, does Facebook truly think I care about my contacts commenting on the posts of somebody I don't know? (no offense to those of you here on my FB, I just don't think that sort of thing is necessary ).
And when Google Buzz launched, like many people I was appalled by the potential breach of privacy, and I immediately ensured nothing on my account was public.

Thoughts?

This can only be a good thing. Like every catastrophic disaster in history (Holocaust, Titanic, organized religion, etc.) there's a lesson to be learned. If tons of people are robbed and also suffer higher insurance rates because of it (in addition to, you know, being robbed) it could lead to a nation that doesn't think broadcasting every little stupid detail of what you do is a good idea. People may rethink their positions that 140 characters is enough to explain an idea or express something worthwhile to say. People will realize they are not the center of the universe and people will stop caring whether someone they know or a random celebrity is eating a sandwich or driving to the mall. Texting, and previously instant messaging, has already destroyed language and twitter/facebook has continued this trend while also turning everyone into tabloid zombies. Once again we must look to the criminals to right a social wrong through hilarity.

easy stop posting detailed things about your life hahahah i never give compromising info, like IM NOT HOME THE KEY IS UNDER THE WELCOME RUG (I dont have one btw, should get one soon) I just post random qoutes and song lyrics and the occacional picture. and I dread to be found by one of my highschool former companions so I never post like im HERE

There's nothing new in this - it has been a widely known fact for many years (pretty much since the invention of the web) that people will post stupid things online. Heck - much of this isn't even a product of being online, but just being stupid.

Posting on a social website is just the new revelation for some and apparently for many it suddenly dawns on them that they are stupid. (Yes, I really do not have much thought of people like that)

Over the years I've seen people set up "picture sites" where they'd publish their vacation photos while being away - for family to see, and everybody else.
So standing in a 3 months stint in Thailand and posting those nice vacation photos for people at home to see - and thus advertising you're away. Stupid.

As for people loosing their job over what they post online, that's nothing new either, or limited to social networking. Some people prior to that have used blogs, newspaper articles and so on down the technological ladder.

Or the insurance fraud people with bad back out shovelling snow.

Social networking is not out of control, it has little at all to do with social networking - it just makes it that much easier and faster and less expensive to identify the people who really do not think at all.

Friends-only, people! Friends-only! It isn't hard!

Yup, that's what privacy settings are for.

Xandax wrote:As for people loosing their job over what they post online, that's nothing new either, or limited to social networking. Some people prior to that have used blogs, newspaper articles and so on down the technological ladder.

Don't know if anyone saw it but [url="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/macquarie-banker-filmed-ogling-nude-miranda-kerr-pictures-named/story-e6frg996-1225826327979"]this[/url] is pretty funny.

Agree with Xandax here. Kind of makes you wonder how careless people can be when posting stuff online...

Well, social networking sites aren't all evil. And besides, aren't forums technically social networking sites now :laugh:? But yeah, if you're going to post things online that will get you into trouble, you're probably going to do something equally as stupid offline.

MySpace has been absolutely critical to my band's success. It's helped me reach out a lot farther and communicate with important people I might not have been able to get a hold of prior to the invention of MySpace. It also lets me update our "followers" on upcoming events and promote shows and new songs.

So now I step off my soapbox and say (Before you think I'm some sort of raving MySpace whore)...

MySpace is a great tool for musicians, but otherwise, useless.