See Where Your Friends Go Online: New Sites Reveal Your Every Click

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Sites like Twitter and Foursquare have already given us ways to show our friends (on and off the web) who we are, what we do and where we go. But like everything else online, these get old quickly. So now there are a number of online startups that are bringing us one step closer to full online disclosure (and some might set off your "privacy invasion" alarm).
New sites like Voyurl, Dscover.me and Sitesimon will share your online activity, also known as your "clickstream," with your friends, family and the rest of the Web if you so choose. It will be similar to looking at a person's Web browser history. "[Click-sharing] is a nice way to bring serendipity back to the Web, because we're losing it," Adam Leibsohn, creator of Voyurl, which will go live in a few months, told ABC News.
"Each day, we wrap up every hour of your browsing behavior," he continued. "It's a single-screen snapshot of what you look like based on what you look at."
With this snapshot, Voyurl will help you see what kind of online user you are and even help you figure out what sites you should check out in the future. Dscover.me is somewhat similar. It will tell you which sites you'd like according to your interests or recommend "whitelisted" sites you -- based on their views of your tastes -- would definitely not want to explore. Meanwhile Sitesimon will scan every article you read and product you purchase online and compile this list to share with your friends.
While that may not seem like a bad idea, some researchers think the idea of "clickstreaming" won't catch on with most online users because it could change the way they use the Web. "I think it could have a chilling effect on the way people use the Internet," Alice Marwick, a social media researcher at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, Mass. said. "I think that there are some very significant privacy concerns."
Marwick further explained that even though there are already sites like FriendFeed that compile all your social media feeds for public view, you still have the ability to control what people can view. That won't be the case with these new (and improved?) sharing sites.
And while it's too early to tell if "clickstreaming" will be the next big thing, it does make us want to reconsider the next website we decide to visit. After all, there are some surfing behaviors we may want to keep private!
And speaking of private, did you hear that Facebook is planning facial recognition for photo uploads? This makes us worry that we will spend even more time untagging ourselves from embarrassing and unflattering group pics. Sigh ...
Around the Web
- What Drives Men Away and What Attracts Them - YourTango
- Bill Clinton: It's Still the Economy, Stupid - The Daily Beast
- Do You Want to Know When Your Friends Run Into Your Ex? - The Frisky
- Would You Marry Someone Who Didn't Have a Job? - The Gloss
- And the City That Has the Most Sex Is ... - The Stir, CafeMom
- 3 Easy Ways to Keep Your Makeup Sweat-Proof This Summer - BellaSugar
