Lab+6

Web 3.0 -> Web 4.0 []

The increasing popularity of social networking sites has resulted in a branding effect of the individual who participates in online networking. By accessing these sites, the user provides personal information, likes and dislikes, and thus creates a profile and a presence online that has value. The combination of registering a //Facebook, Twitter, Google,// and blogging account results in the users' construction of what Dickens calls an //Über-Profile//. This //Über-Profile// is valuable because Dickens states that if a user optimizes his or her online engagement through their personal branding as a consumer, they become empowered and their online influence becomes a form of currency.

There are a number of ways in which an individual's online presence can be measured, through tools such as //Klout, Topsy,// and //Grader.// However, the next level of tools take into account all of your online activity, gathering information from across all of a users' online participation in interactive websites to determine his or her value and influence on the Internet. Marketers and advertisers are learning from users' influence how to better cater to the consumer, thus giving consumers a sense of empowerment simply through their online presence by allowing their personal preferences to affect the types of products that are being sold to them.

Although I agree that the online consumer is liberated in some senses through the ability to object or accept certain products that are targeted towards them, I do think that the accumulation of such an abundance of personal information that is being submitted through social sites is still a risky factor when taking into consideration the issue of privacy. The //Über-Profile// can be utilized to maximize a user's online influence. However, this also maximizes the amount of information that can be accessed by advertisers and marketers, thus compromising the individual's privacy in the context of their online presence.