So Much for Privacy? New Sites Share Every Step You Take Online
March 31, 2011— -- Are you bold enough to bare your browsing for all the Web to see?
Betting that the trend toward online exhibitionism isn't letting up anytime soon, a few new startups let you publicize your browsing history, while giving you a peek at where your friends click online, too.
As you surf through news stories, video clips and shopping sites, these services, which plug directly into your Web browser, allow you to share your "clickstream" with friends (or everyone, if you so choose), giving them the chance to check out the latest links to catch your eye. They also give you real-time access to your friends' online activity, letting you spot their favorite haunts and surprising finds.
In a world where Web surfers are cautioned to keep their personal data under tight wraps, asking users to willingly give up -– and broadcast -- their precious browsing history might seem like a tall order.
But the founders of these services -- Voyurl, Dscover.me and Sitesimon -- say their sites are just building on the Facebooking, tweeting and Foursquare checking-in that people are used to already.
"Click-sharing is the natural next step in terms of what's been happening over the past couple of years," said Demetri Karagas, one of three co-founders of the New York-based Sitesimon.
Just as people know they can get place-specific, real-time deals and other helpful information when they share where they are on the location-based social network Foursquare, he said, people will realize that they'll get more out of their browsing if they share what they're looking at online.
"You'll be able to have a richer experience on the Web," Karagas said.
Open to select people on an invitation basis (he expects the site to open up to the public later this year), Sitesimon plugs into a Web browser and then tracks where you click on the Internet. Every news article scanned, video watched or Amazon item purchased ends up in a list of your online activity.
But you have full control of who gets to see your browsing history, and what it is they get to see, he said. You can choose to share your clickstream with specific friends or everyone, and you can "black list" certain websites to prevent them from showing up at all.
