October 15 Searching - Issues of Privacy

Micheal Zimmers article on Searching and the issues of privacy deal mainly with the emergence of the web 2.0 phenomenon that has caught on within the last decade or so. With this phenomenon, comes the possiblities of web searching more, efficiant, personalized, and relevant. As Zimmer states in the introduction, the function of Web 2.0 is to "organize and share information, to interact within communities, and to express oneself. In an attempt to make web searching for each an every user more efficiant, whoever be it has had the users of the web be activly monitered throught the web. The idea of a perfect search engine, which would delever results to us besed on our own past searches and general browsing history, has in turn taken away from us alot of privacy, and a little bit of freedom.
These are the advantages and the flaws of the "Search 2.0" concept. There is a fine line between what the web would call "Personal Information Flows", and what i would call, a stalker, tracking my personal online and search behavior. In a sence, i do fully understand the benefits of being monitored. In the case of catching a murderer by surveiling the beb sights he has visited, or a pedofile, or a terrorist, its hard to make a case against it. But then hearing the the governemnt ordered google to turn over the records of millions of their users search queries, and knowing theres an easy chance on of those users was me, these search engines become intimidating and questionable. Overall thought, i feel that it is a users responsibility to conduct his or herself in an appropriate, even proffesional manner when using the web. I think that most people are candid in the way they conduct themselves online. And a company has every right to use the tools at their disposal for making hiring decisions, including googleing your name to see who you really are. I know that for me personally, i dont have any scandelous pictures, or opinionated blogs out there on the web. Ive been hesitant to show myself doing anything stupid on facebook after i heard that a college refused to give a girl her degree after graduating due to how she showed she was conducting herself via Facebook. Every user is responsible for their web activity, and if you truly have nothing to hide, the concept of search 2.0 wouldnt not bother you.