Unintended consequences !

Facebook was a bright idea that made Mark Zuckerberg a very rich man.   His idea was to use the Internet as a " meeting place " where people could exchange information with their friends.  This quickly developed into a competition.   The more friends each person enrolled established their position in the pecking order.

Common sense called for discretion in the personal information offered, but some people overstepped the mark and Facebook became notorious for information over-kill.   Some users found themselves swamped with offers of " friendship " from people who were complete strangers, but Facebook is relatively harmless and a pleasant time waster for many.

Now Zuckerberg has introduced a new search tool called " Graph Search ".   Facebook has cleverly sorted out all the information supplied by users into categories, and the combinations seem endless.  With the click of a mouse you can gain a list of all those who like horror movies - or all those who have contributed their picture - and who have red hair. It seems that this form of introducing categories will continue to expand at the whim of the imagination of the planners.

Like all such innovations, the use to which it is put will fall into positive and negative categories.   Some will see it as a handy dating tool.   If your dream partner is a female of certain physical dimensions who has blonde hair, is aged in the 25 to 30 bracket, has attended university and qualified in the arts and her chosen sport is archery - then the magical dimensions of the net will find her for you.   Of course, this will also open up countless opportunities for stalkers.

Innovation is a double sided coin.   Great ideas advance science, but there is also a dark side.  Just as the Internet opened a library of information for all, it also produced evil minds who use it for plunder and seem to gain pleasure from inflicting pain on others.

Zuckerbergs media announcement met mixed reactions.    The Mandarins of the stock exchange gave it the thumbs down - and Facebook share price dropped.    It is early days - and this Graph Search idea is still in it's infancy.   How it develops and the uses to which it will be put are yet to emerge.

Perhaps a good reason to think long and hard before committing sensitive information for all and sundry to see !