By Rebecca Canan

I love social media, I really do.  BUT sometimes I think about certain sites and wonder, “WHY in the world do people (read: me) do this??? It’s so creepy!”  Now, I say this a little tongue-in-cheek, but it’s shocking how much people are willing to sacrifice in terms of privacy for a little dose of pleasure.  You can see exactly what “friends” are doing via their Facebook wall, photo albums, and Twitter updates.  It’s a treasure trove for marketers and communicators because of all the personal insights it gives about stakeholders’ lives.  It’s also a jackpot for every stalker/burglar/psycho ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend out there trying to track down someone’s whereabouts (!).  It’s just plain creepy if you think about it.  I mean, is there no limit to the amount of information people are willing to share?  I recently read an article in the NYTimes about people posting photos of their food each time before they sat down to eat it.  Really???

So, with that said, here is my list of the Top 3 Creepiest Social Networking Tools.  Drumroll please…

#1: Foursquare

Foursquare is a mobile application that enables you to “check in” to a place when you’re there.  It then lets friends know where you are, tracks the history of where you’ve been, and sees who you’ve been with.Why is it creepy? People know exactly where you are and where you like to go.  Although only your friends can see your history & all the places you’ve checked in, many people link up their foursquare check-ins to their public Twitter pages.

Why is it cool? You actually have to be at (or near) the place where you check-in, so you can’t fake it.  It’s great for companies in the retail, restaurant/food, or consumer products industry because you can learn more about your consumers’ behaviors and reward them for their loyalty.  I could also see using foursquare for events / community engagement…people could check in at a charity event, for example, and you could reward or pick a winner among the attendees.

#2: Blippy

From its website, “Blippy is a fun, free and safe site that lets you share your purchases and see what your friends are buying online and in real life.”  Yikes.

Why is it creepy? People know exactly how you are spending your money on sites like amazon, itunes, ebay, and zappos.  Spend way too much on shoes?  Blippy makes that info public.  Adding to the potential creepiness, the site has had a few scares re: revealing users’ credit card info.

Why is it cool? You can share information about cool things you’ve bought (and brag a little).  I suppose you also feel a little more accountability in your spending habits since your friends see what you do.  Obviously this is a goldmine of information for product marketers.

#3: Spokeo (aka Stalkeo)

From its website, “Spokeo is a search engine specializing in organizing people-related information from phone books, social networks, marketing lists, business sites, and other public sources.”  Essentially, it gives you uber data on people based on information they’ve made public (or not…) on the web, in traditional sources, or on marketing surveys.

Why is it creepy? While it’s not entirely accurate, it’s scary how much information they can pull.  Give it a try…go to their site and search for yourself.  See…?

Why is it cool? Most of that information is available publicly anyway, so it’s an easy way to brush up on a potential recruit, a new client, a new neighbor…etc.  Just use with caution! One of my entries said that I was a Leo (I’m a Cancer!).

I’m sure our CEC Insider readers have opinions about privacy (or lack thereof) in today’s networked world.  Have you been “creeped out” by anything you’ve tried or seen?  Do you think it’s exciting or scary?