However, it appears that just about anything else is up for grabs in the world of user generated content. Social networking sites like memebo, twitter, facebook,  myspace and more all have an aspect of self divulging or the offering of often times very private information like religion, sexual interest and relationship status. This is key for two reasons. 1- it is crucial to developing a sense of community and for keep peoples interest and 2 – It generates an incredible amount of raw data concerning who is doing what where, when and why. This part is truely incredible.

A marketer in Indiana could with the click of a couple buttons identify the 17 people at StFX University who happen to be openly gay men with an interest in the movie Braveheart and a fetish for Celine Dion. Depending on just what the marketer from Indiana is selling, this could be really valuable information. The reality is that when a person joins facebook or twitter or youtube they instantly remove barriers that are usally their to protect them. Most never realize the information on their facebook page is property of facebook, with servers in the United States of America. So, if our Indiana marketer just happens to switch jobs and begin working at Homeland Security, he will have access to every persons everything instantly simply by virtue of clicking a button.

We will refer back to this topic briefly in USG – Alive at StFX.