Gatekeepers in the digital, networked world

June 13, 2012 | Filed under: Technology | Posted by:
The Internet has become more interactive, with content being more about sharing

Major social networks like Facebook and Twitter have become a gateway to sharing sites and apps for photos, music, and other Internet goodies. They are becoming the arbiters of your digital life.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus are why many of us spend so much time on the Internet. And for many users, sites like these have become the only way they can access other sharing sites and apps like Instagram, Audioboo, Posterous. Users log on to Instagram or Pinterest with their Facebook or Twitter accounts, without having to remember a new username and password.

“Developers get a bunch of information when you allow a new site to use Facebook Connect,” said David Pakman, partner at the New York-based venture capitalist firm, Venrock.

It’s a simple case of data exchange. The new site gets the user’s email address, activities and preferences in relation to content and that allows the service to customize itself for the new user.

Facebook or Twitter, through Twitter Connect, also get to have access to what the user does on the new service – increasing its knowledge of the user. It is data that can be sold on to advertisers.

source: DW