codyg1985’s Think Tank

You wonder why I am not surprised by this? The National Security Agency (NSA), who was revealed to have been purchasing phone records of innocent Americans, is now funding research for a new front on the ever-increasing reach of the U.S. government. That new front is the many social networking websites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Friendster, that are a boon to teenagers and young adults.

Most who use these websites post copious amounts of information about their personal lives:

By adding online social networking data to its phone analyses, the NSA could connect people at deeper levels, through shared activities, such as taking flying lessons. Typically, online social networking sites ask members to enter details of their immediate and extended circles of friends, whose blogs they might follow. People often list other facets of their personality including political, sexual, entertainment, media and sporting preferences too. Some go much further, and a few have lost their jobs by publicly describing drinking and drug-taking exploits. Young people have even been barred from the orthodox religious colleges that they are enrolled in for revealing online that they are gay.

Regardless of how liberal someone is about posting information about themselves on the internet, this is an indication of how far the U.S. government is willing to go to know what’s going on in all of our lives.  Social networking websites already aide potential employers on how a prospective employee behaves and acts.  MySpace has been notorious for sexual predators lately as well, so it would seem that it is not a bad idea to start this research up.

However, the big majority of people that use these websites do not realize what they are getting themselves into when they start pouring every bit about their personal life into their profile.  Most are young teenagers that are joining because their friends have joined.  Once any bit of information is added to a profile, nearly anyone can see it, and then anyone can use that information for or against the author of it.

Maybe it is common sense (or it should be) not to put anything on your profile that will incriminate, but for those that don’t get that, the NSA will soon snatch up that information.