Death of Privacy
I don't have a "spcial networking" page, nor do I see the need. Perhaps if I were 16, I could have been pressured into creating one, but not now. What truly concerns me is the effect that sites like Facebook and Friendster are having on the concept of privacy rights, especially among the young. Kids think nothing of posting the most private and sensitive matter these days. Some of the more enthusiastic participants practically clone their day to day existence onto their website. Most kids don't stop to think that once this information goes into the aether, it's there forever, and their control over how the information is used is gone forever.
Here in the United States, privacy rights are only implicitly protected under our Bill of Rights. They have been inferred as the natural extension of various explicitly enumerated rights. As such, the "right of privacy" is something of a moving target. The concept of privacy is always being reevaluated in view of changing social customs and norms. As the younger segments of american society commit more and more aspects of their private like to internet, it's only natural that the legal concept of privacy is further eroded. This is great news for state and federal governments that want to surveil and control us. It's also good news for corporations and businesses that want to sell us products and services. It's bad news for the dwindling number of us who enjoy our privacy, although honestly the battle was probably lost with the introduction of computerized record keeping of health and financial transactions beginning in the 60's.
I do wonder, though, how some of these kids will feel in 50 years when Big Brother is no longer a threat, but a reality, and they come to realize that they played a big part in bringing it on.