The Social Equation
Joe M posted in Musing on September 25th, 2009
I have gone off into rants, before, about what information people share on the Internet.
In several cases, over the past few years, we have learned that information can be harnessed and used in ways we never intended, or imagined.
If my memory serves me correctly…
In a story a couple of years ago, a reporter managed to track down an elderly woman in another city, simply based off of the data she entered into a Google search.
I don’t recall all the details.
I remember coming into contact with a younger boy in high school.
He was slack, and backwoods, and did not strike me as the scholarly, type… but he said something that was probably more profound than I knew, at the time.
“Information all about your life… is stored on a gov’ment c’mputer somewhere.”
The gyst, I walked away with… was… someone, somewhere, one day… will have more information about you, than you know.
It might not necessarily be a “gov’ment c’mputer.”
That was not the only time I ever heard a similar theory… or supposition.
Some students at MIT have developed an algorithm and a matching program, that analyzes data from social networking sites.
“Project Gaydar,” as it has been dubbed… takes several factors into consideration.
By looking at several characteristics on a social network user’s page, they are able to predict whether or not the user was gay.
For the record, the subjects for which they tested the software, had no declaration as to sexual preference.
According to their reported results, their predictions were extremely accurate.
You can read the full article from Boston Globe, here.
The end result, for the rest of us?
What is says, I think, speaks volumes.
We are still learning how data can be utilized.
Up until now, there are several of us that have used social networking sites to post a great deal of information about ourselves.
Think about all of it… and answer this:
The information is elemental to a potential equation.
What variables can be solved, utilizing the information we have posted?