We’ve seen a lot of bots since IRC was invented (maybe much more earlier, I’m a 80-age guy). Bots are widely used nowadays in SNS sites.

They can track the changes of your nick and personal status, then automatically report to your twitter-like mini blog. But someone bad may record your password, use your contact list and spread ads and spam mails. We’ve seen a lot of such bad sites which provide marriage info exchange or something else, ONS, I mean, who knows. One of them is even one of MSN China’s partners which appear in MSN tab for mainland China users. Check your hotmail inbox or spam directory, are there some spam-like mail from some sites but in the name of your friends?

So, why users still type their IM account and even IM password in their SNS site? Are they looking for a true love, true friendship, business chance, new circle, new network? I don’t know.

SNS sites will have more and more difficult in balancing of providing credible personal data and protecting personal privacy. After all, the key value of all SNS is users’ data and the network upon them. We will see more changes in the industry. It’s not the end nor the start The challenge was, is, and still will be the most difficult for every SNS site, and even the whole Internet.

PS.

A famous “search engine” in China is “man powered search”. Many scandal guys’ personal data are posted on Internet by start searching from a picture, a phone number, or even an id. The big brother are created by ourselves.