I have been watching the last little while as some social networking hubs have been changing the way they deal with privacy control. I have to say it amuses me to think that the online community gets so bent out of shape every time one network changes the way they deal with them or how certain things are presented. If you are active online and have a few profiles on selected networks then really…How much privacy do you have?

You willingly offer up to a network your details, some much more than others. You provide demographic material, your likes and dislikes, the type of music you like, the locations you have visited, your location of origin or your current living vicinity. You openly state your opinion on a variety of topics and you post photos that are both time stamped and geo-tagged. So what on earth makes you feel that your “privacy” is in tact or has been for some time.

The easiest thing I have found to eliminate the anxiety of breaches of privacy is this;

Be the open book that you wish you could be – embrace the fact that if there is nothing to hide then nothing is a surprise

When engaging in the world of social networks or online communities of any kind be prepared to give a lot. The internet has memory and the people that you have “connected” with are aware of your behaviour, one way or another. So embrace the social aspect of this phenomena and share it.

You should have an opinion and I hope you do think of more then what your status on fb is or who would be good to re-tweet. Be a contributor to a more fluid and multi-channeled way of sharing information.

Let your guard down both online and offline and awaken the belief that we all started off with initially. The belief that people should be trusted first and not held to suspicion. I battle with this and the more times that I have just trusted someone on pure gut instinct the more I feel that I am closer to a bigger understanding of the inner workings of the life we live.