What Google Buzz has taught people about their privacy on the Internet.

If you did not hear it in the news yesterday morning, it was announced that Google was facing a class action lawsuit because of the information that Google Buzz leaked to perspective groups. If you are not familiar with Google Buzz, Google Buzz is the new social networking device created by Google that is now incorporated into Google mail(WWW.Google.Com/Buzz). This application reminds me a lot of Twitter and is Google's attempt at creating a network of contacts through your e-mail address. When the application first launched, it automatically put everybody into groups which at the time did not seem wrong. Google wanted to cash in on the fact that people were still trying to figure out Google Wave, and many had no pure friends on the list. This was a good idea in principal, however many people found their information being transferred to groups and networks that they were not even aware of joining. Now many people are throwing their hands up in arms and joining a class action lawsuit that could prove to be devastating for Google and the future of Social Media. In a world filled with social media and real time search, we have nothing left to hide. A friend of mine asked me this very question the other day as she found all of my personal information posted on Facebook. "You're inviting stalkers," she told me as she found both my address and phone number listed on the page. Well, my thoughts are that all of this information can be found online anyways, so why not have it listed here. If you Google Cole Watts, two of the search results on the first page send you to either my Myspace page(WWW.Myspace.com/TheBilljake125) which I have had since '03 or my Twitter account(WWW.Twitter.com/Cole_Watts). I understand what this girl was saying when she said I should be worried about a stalker, but in today's day and age you can find almost anything you want to about a person in a matter of minutes. A quick google of my parent's home phone gives there address and names. So, yes, I am giving the "stalkers" free reign to my info, because I know, if they really want to find it they can and will in other ways. I am just eliminating their search for the information. If I was anyboy else, I might be worried but as a 25 year old, single white middle-class male I have nothing to worry about. Now let me get back to Google Buzz. I understand that E-mail is a completely different vehicle than Social Networking. Many people have personal information that they send every day in their e-mails to friends and co-workers,but E-mail has been leaked since the early days as companies such as Google used this information to select advertisements that meet your particular needs. People have to understand though in today's world that the day of privacy has ended and the day of being searched has begun.