I’ve been thinking today about the data collection that is happening. Luke and I briefly emailed about the Facebook valuation. He had some interesting insights. Specifically about Super-Node type people that Facebook could serve special ads, or even free mp3s to. People who influence their peers. I think this is a valid point. One that is a gamble, but valid. I guess we have all had a friend that has acted like the glue keeping your peer group on the same page.
I just wonder if all this data is ever going to be really useful. I’m sure my browsing history is generating lots and lots of cookies. Creating an online profile that will be able to tell that, like today, I searched Goggle for the following terms:
judo red and white belt
brasileiro judo federacao
Vo et Vat
gyaku jujime
neil degrass tyson
ghandi
facebook
quote:Flex
Now how is that worth anything? [I once had a program that would just randomly search google with a random word, so that your profile would be skewed.] I guess you could draw some conclusions from my searches. But if presented with ads based on Indian judoka who practice astronomy and investing, I wouldn’t really be that keen to click. It is all just digital landfill. I’m populating the servers of the world with garbage. We all are.
I listened to a radio story about someone finding a bunch of letters by the side of the highway. Data won’t ever get strewn around like that and create a bonanza for someone. It doesn’t take up space. In fact, the amount you can store on media is getting larger everyday as the media grows physically smaller. I run the risk of sounding like a Luddite, but I don’t really want to leave a data footprint. I’ll try to write some more letters. (He wrote ironically on his computer.)