An article in USA today, Social, work lives collide on networking websites, starts with the story of Wadooah Wali who, after her marriage, changed her status on Facebook and MySpace to 'married' and posted some pictures of her new partner.
Congratulations and best wishes from family and friends poured in. Then there was a short comment ('nice pictures') from a little-known professional contact. Wali realised that her work and social circles had intersected and that privacy as we know it offline doesn't extend to online and social networking sites.
The article goes on to discuss how easy it is to befriend people, even comparative strangers, online, and how this 'friendship' can open up your personal information to a wider and wider audience. And these friends can add information to your pages - information that may be derogatory, uncomplimentary, or just not nice.
Now Facebook and MySpace plan to allow users to 'manage' their friends, separate them into different groups, and decide what and how much information these groups can see.
Or should we just become more open and transparent about what we share online if we feel the benefits outweigh the risks?
(Maybe you're wondering why Wali was concerned that a professional contact had seen her wedding news. Her partner is a woman, and she was apprehensive that knowledge of her sexual orientation might cause some work colleagues to react negatively towards her.)
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