Are We Still Talking About Privacy, Really?

When Forrester speaks, people in the industry listen. That’s what makes its latest report on privacy and social media so intriguing. Privacy concerns among social users in age groups 30 to 43, 44 to 53 and 54 to 64 have risen by an average of nearly 10%. Forrester deduces that the over-saturation of the social space - countless blogs (this one doesn’t count of course), discussion groups, forums and social networking sites – could be a factor. The over-saturation argument is hard to dispute; however, it isn’t fair for social users to fret about privacy when they're the ones who opened the too much information flood gates.

Another aspect of this report that is both troubling and perplexing is the omission of couponing data, a growing strategy that is driving results for marketers leveraging social media. For users looking to score hot deals, especially with the holiday shopping season around the corner, they will have to give a little to get a little. Based on the growth of online and mobile couponing, privacy concerns don’t appear to be much of an issue here. Perhaps privacy only becomes a concern when users realize they can’t capitalize on it.