Il quotidiano britannico The Economist pubblica “A world of connections”, uno report di sedici pagine che mette sotto la lente d’ingrandimento il modo in cui i social network online stanno cambiando il nostro modo di comunicare, lavorare e giocare per poi concludere che, fortunatamente, tali cambiamenti sono quasi sempre per il meglio

Come gli autori stessi spiegano nell’introduzione:

This special report will examine these issues in detail. It will argue that social networks are more robust than their critics think, though not every site will prosper, and that social-networking technologies are creating considerable benefits for the businesses that embrace them, whatever their size. Lastly, it will contend that this is just the beginning of an exciting new era of global interconnectedness that will spread ideas and innovations around the world faster than ever before.

Da non perdere il capitolo dedicato alla “privacy 2.0”, dove gli autori mettono in luce un fondamentale conflitto di interessi: coloro che amministrano i social network sono chiamati a garantire la privacy dei loro utenti e, contemporaneamente, devono incoraggiare quest’ultimi a condividere pubblicamente più informazioni possibile, fornendo così il carburante necessario ad alimentare i loro nascenti modelli di business.

In order to attract users, sites need to offer ways for members to restrict the information about themselves that gets shared with a wider public. Without effective controls people would be reluctant to sign up. But if a site allows members to keep too much of their information private, there will be less traffic that can be turned into proft through advertising and various other means, so the network’s business will suffer.

E ancora:

Sharing information with apps developers is an especially sensitive issue. If severe restrictions are placed on networks’ ability to pass on data, both they and the developers could end up making less money than envisaged. Advertising is another touchy subject. Jeffrey Chester of the Centre for Digital Democracy, a privacy group, sees social networks as part of a broader set of companies that are trying to track individuals’ behaviour online to gather data that can be used by marketers for precisely targeted advertising.

Detto questo, la domanda sorge spontanea: who guards the guardians?

Risorse

– The Economist: A world of connections
– Il rapporto integrale scaricabile gratuitamente in formato .pdf

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