We spend a lot of time talking about the benefits of different social networking systems. We talk about the conversations that are enabled and the shortcuts to meaningful relationships, whether business or social. What we rarely, if ever, talk about is the dark side. The big brotherish side that can, if it wants to, track our activities in minute detail.

If big business is involved, and it is, you can be certain that this information is like gold. Of course it wants to track you. It pays very good money for the privilege of learning as much about you as possible. And a terrific way to do this is to know who you are then watch your behaviour: what websites you visit, how much time you spend on various activities, where you're connecting from, who you communicate with, whether you're a man or a woman and so on.

The instant you log in to a service - Facebook, Yahoo!, Microsoft, whatever, you're no longer anonymous. At a recent session with a company in this space, the first couple of hours were dedicated to how users could be exploited rather than served. I won't name names because, whatever the public face of these companies, the conversations behind closed doors are likely to be very similar.

But we're willing participants. These organisations provide a platform for communities to form and, because of our desire to connect, we share all manner of personal information. Not to the host, but to our online chums. Sadly, every time we contribute something or click the mouse, we freely, and unwittingly enable the host to refine our profiles and to deliver the advertisements most likely to appeal.

If we want to participate in online, public, social networking communities then it's best to assume we're regarded by many as victims rather than beneficiaries.