We are all now familiar with the likes ofMySpaceand Facebook, and I am sure
that many reading this article will have published their profiles,
comments, moods and questions, and will have a list of online
"friends".
The organisation I work for has its own network on one of the
more common social networks, and I know from analysing the web
access logs that many members of that network use the site during
office hours.
One of the risks of social networking is identity management.
Suppose you receive a request to connect with someone on the
popular
LinkedIn network. How can you know that the request is from the
named individual, and not from an impostor looking to gather data
about your firm?
Danger of the unknown
A fundamental flaw of all social networks is the lack of
identity validation. Anyone can pretend to be anyone.
In July, New Scientist magazine highlighted this problem as it
manifests itself on Facebook, where spammers create realistic
profile pages that make them look like ordinary users. They then
persuade people to accept them as friends, giving the spammer
access to the victim's inbox, which they flood with Viagra ads and
pornographic links.
Social networking sites do have their advantages. We can see if
our contacts are online and interact with them in real-time. Having
real-time access to a community or network of experts can create
real business efficiencies and accelerate business processes.
Social networking is changing the way we interact. The catch is
that there are presently no rules, and that makes it a dangerous
environment.
Changing boundaries
One of the most important aspects of social networking from my
point of view is that business use of social networks extends
outside the organisation. Therefore, our boundaries become extended
and the potential vectors to access to our data increase. From a
user's point of view, the distinction between personal and business
identities begins to blur.
Facebook's privacy policy runs to more than 3,200 words, with a
disclaimer stating that the policy can change at any time without
warning. Would you trust this company with your private data?
There are no guarantees and no restrictions about how Facebook
can use the huge quantity of data that it holds. It is a
marketeer's dream and a hugely valuable asset for the owners. Do
not forget that Facebook was not designed for business it was
intended as a fun "social utility" for students.
Despite the risks of using social networking sites, many of us
do so - including me. The future will see more development of these
sites, tighter integration with our business tools, and more risk
to privacy.
The message has got to be "use with caution". Do not publish
anything you are likely to regret later, because the likelihood is
that your online content will live on longer than you might wish it
to.