Public is the New Private
Jan 11th, 2010 by Brett Greene
If you are still worried about your information being on the web, get over it. Google your phone number and you’ll see your name and address with a link to Google Maps.
That information has been online for at least a couple of years. Has it hurt you? I doubt it. You’d be better served to set up a Google profile so that people will read information about you that you would like them to see.
Currently 74.2% of the American population is online. That leaves about 80 million people who are still not using the interwebs, but their information is most likely on the interwebs even though they’re late adopters.
The opportunities of being ubiquitous online are so far beyond the risks that it’s hard not to laugh when people express fear of baddies on the internets. Do they exist? Yes. Just like you’ll find a sex offender in your neighborhood if you search for them. Have they shown up at your door lately? Probably not.
Yes they’re a threat, but the perceived threat is huge compared to the actual chance of a real threat. Trying to be invisible online is about as effective as moving to a remote cave to be protected from a sex offender since they’re in every metropolitan neighborhood. Studies since 2005 have repeatedly shown that identity theft, the largest privacy concern for most people, happens less often, is less harmful and is less costly online rather than offline.
Evidence continually points to the fact that being online, being able to be found and building your personal brand are incredibly beneficial and those who are ignoring this are doing so at their own peril. The web is evolving into being the social web and those who embrace connecting to Influencers and becoming Influencers will be the ones to enjoy the most personal and professional benefits from this shift.
As Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, recently said at the Crunchies conference, “Public is the new social norm.”
DandyID
Twitter
Linkedin
Friendfeed
Brightkite
Delicious
Digg
IntenseDebate
Disqus
Google Profiles
last.fm
Blip.fm
Facebook
Flickr
I used to use a "handle" and keep everything kind of private… as was the norm a few years back… but this public and "real name" thing is now standard… and I feel I makes things less "edgy" and "underground" but more legit and accountable.
Brett, those are good point s I didn't mention. Besides making it more legitimate, I bet it's helped you to connect with more people professionally. When I meet people in person that I know from their Twitter handles, if they don't use their name, it's confusing and harder to get initial connections moving.
Great post, Brett. Funny and true metaphors about trying to be invisible online. Some brands have, as of yet, succeeded in not making too much of a splash on social media, but we agree with you that those that are not listening to online conversations nowadays – in at least some form – are doing so at their own peril.
Also, it will be very interesting to track the evolution of Influencers as the social web becomes a daily part of business – who they are, what communities they influence, who they're connected to, etc.
Best,
Michelle
@Synthesio
Thanks for the comment Michelle. We expect more people to wake up to how everyone is an influencers and for the future to hold numerous Influencers across vast niches. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
I've often thought that the communities we build online and the physical communities we live mirror each other in the ratio of "baddies" who would do us harm to those who genuinely care about our well being. It may be easy to build a vast number of connections online, and some percentage of those may have malicious intent. But there are many more people who genuinely care about us, who would, and often do, come quickly to our aid when we have real need.
Well said Heather. The "baddies" are small in numbers and can only go so far in communities that organically form around well intentioned people coming together based on shared interests.