The real social network: Stalking - We all do it.

The ability to use the internet to find out information is an astounding thing. It has no doubt settled many a debate, query or concern for everyday internet-users. But is there harm in using the internet to find out information on people...? Be they your peers, potential colleagues, or possible love interests, the internet can be an invaluable tool for gathering personal information on individuals. 

This cat takes the internet seriously... should I?

And it seems to be something that is harder to admit, while in turn, becoming ever more prominent.

This sense of "cyber-stalking" can seem to carry a social stigma - in that, admitting to knowing information about a specific person (most commonly, via their Facebook page) requires you, successively, to admitting to having looked on their Facebook page - removing the anonymity the internet provides.

I, however, suffer no ill-effects of stalking, nor of being "stalked"... I have no problem in confessing how I know things about people from their Facebook page - it's on their Facebook (in a sense, it's their fault that I'm looking on their facebook page in the first place... :P). On estimate, I would say I source around 85% of my pre-existing knowledge of an individual from Facebook. Would I call myself creepy (most people would), or just an astute internet-user?

I also have no problem in people knowing semi-intimate details about my life. In fact, recently (without wanting to come across too big-headed) I seem to have acquired a few "stalkers..." That is to say, people who have - either knowingly, or unwittingly - found one of my online profiles and started "talking" to me as a result. As I previously mentioned in my trust post, I can only trust these people. What reason would I have to suspect any "foul-play?" (although, if they were to ever ask for my credit card details, alarm bells might start ringing... D:)

Moving on, if I were to think back to the days before Facebook, or even Myspace... (well, to be honest, my memory is SHOCKING, so I actually can't remember back to those days... :| and I never even used Myspace...), it's strange to think of a time when our personal lives weren't on display to the world... and our main method of finding out about people was good ole' fashioned conversation. Is this new-found "social-networking" just making us more... anti-social? 

I find talking to new people in person a challenge. Talking to someone over Facebook, when I don't have to worry about making awkward facial expressions, or over-exaggerated hand gestures (or, more appropriately, over-exaggerated facial expressions and/or awkward hand gestures... =/ ), is far easier to handle. But does that make me... lazy? And if that's the case, when would it stop? Would people stop showering if they knew they were able to avoid social interaction for a day?! (well... I would hope not...)

Are we all destined to turn into... THIS?! 

Personal hygiene = win.