Don't Be Entwined with Web 2.0

USA Today reports social networking site Facebook will be releasing the names and photos of its 40 million users available in search engines such as Google and Yahoo. This marks a change from actually having to take the extra steps to go to the Facebook website and search the same terms. Nonetheless, some are perturbed by this development.

"I'm amazed that they seem to be opting-in literally millions of people who never asked for Facebook to put listings out in the public," says Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineLand.com and a Facebook user.

Admittedly, I may not be on the cutting edge of these social networking sites. I have a Myspace page to keep up with the few people from high school and afterwards that I care to keep contact with. Otherwise, I'm not trying to hunt down every single person I have had fleeting contact with to add to my already bloated "friend" list.

However, it was always my understanding that the point of social networking sites was ... for social networking. Crazy, I know. Why would you have any expectation of privacy or any objection to allowing those to find you on such sites if you signed up for that express purpose? There is always a way to opt-out and restrict your profiles to only those who have already made your list.

We already know that potential schools and employers look on Facebook and Myspace profiles for an unofficial assessment of a candidate. This just means that Aunt Betty or that creepy guy in Starbucks who overheard your name can retrieve the same information with ease.

Regardless, if there are any photos or videos from that week on Spring Break or at amateur night at the strip club, better be on the safe side and relegate them to the relative privacy of a blog that no one reads.