This is your Life

There has been a big shift in the Social Media Business in the last week. Turns out this man wants to pick up where Michael Aspell left off in the quest to document peoples lives, only the book you will be getting isn't red, its blue.

Facebook last week made available to developers their new "timeline" profile layout (along with a host of other news handling changes, consult mashable for those). The profile step-change has caused controversy amongst the early-adopters, and is likely to spread to widespread ruckus when it goes on general release this Friday. (upgrade your profile in advance here)

Essentially the timeline feature takes data aggregated over your lifetime Facebook history and spans it into a timeline of your events that would put Grandmas finest photo albums to shame. I've got to say I found it a little alarming to trawl through the last 5 years of my life in Facebook form, but it was intriguingly voyeuristic and I must say I think its an improvement.

It would seem that this idea, aimed at making your profile more valuable to you, stems from Google+ putting the cat among the Facebook pigeons. Developers at FB seem to be pushing for a more compelling reason to remain loyal to the Social media long-timer in the face of stiff competition and a tumultuous sea of change. Invariably Google+ will repost with a counter-suggestion of why the shiny new kid on the block is the best bet for your social investment and so it will continue.

Much like any market competition model however, we are seeing a new currency gaining strength (even as the majority of euro-zone currencies slide into panic). Social currency is a lucid term, but one thing that active Social Media users can be sure of is that they now own something of value. A users loyalty, and the profiles, news feeds, and circles or lists which it powers, are valuable assets. With the Social Network owners seeking to steer powerhouses of huge user numbers and reap the benefits of advertising and market power which that brings, we can all bring our cows to market and watch the butchers scrap.

Never before has your personal data been worth so much, making how and when you give it up almost as important as watching your bank statement. A recent project investigating the value of online customer leads for service providers gave me a glimpse of the lead-buying world. With a single customer sign-up being worth in excess of £25 in some cases, it is staggering what some companies will pay for a small window of your attention and a glimpse of a direct debit.

So in times of economic uncertainty, be sure not to undervalue what you are handing out online. The brand of you is coming into fashion.

(Just remember that however you dress it up, you are the one providing the content and to quote one of my old lecturers: "garbage in still equals garbage out")