I found this article really interesting and while I no longer use Myspace (and haven't been active on it for quite a few years), it was still of interest for me. According to The Wall Street Journal, MySpace has been giving advertising companies data that could identify members of the social networking service.
Apparently MySpace users have unique user ID numbers that are associated with users' names, pictures, gender, etc. From what I understand, MySpace has shared these IDs with a third party which has resulted in that third party having access to users' private information. One MySpace spokesman said that the information shared was 'nonpersonally identifiable information' and that MySpace's terms of services prohibit third party developers from sharing any user data, including these ID numbers.
The controversy in this whole thing is that apparently this third party has violated those terms.
I thought this was interesting because whenever I sign onto Facebook(my social network of choice) or even browse any random internet site, it seems as though the internet has been reading my mind with advertisments seemingly geared right at me. I personally find it kind of creepy but I guess I do post information on my Facebook that would make the advertisments geared at me. For example, after my sister got engaged, I posted the news in a status and since then I've been getting ads for engagement rings, wedding planning services, photographers, etc.
At the very end of the article I learned something new about MySpace. Apparently they are relaunching their services by targeting a younger audience and 'putting a premium on "self expression'"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101023/ts_alt_afp/usitinternetmediamyspace
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