Personal space in the social sphere

This week, a survey reveals that almost two-thirds of Britons don’t want to engage with brands on social networks (http://tinyurl.com/bu9rorx).

Taking this report into consideration, it leads me to question the issue of personal space and privacy in the world of social media. When marketing and advertising spills over into our private lives, how close is too close?

With the continued popularity of social media platforms, the line between private information and that which should be publicly shared becomes increasingly blurred.

Today’s society is one dominated by private thoughts and deeds exposed online, and photos that would have remained personal ten years suddenly revealed to everyone and anyone who has a Facebook profile. With ‘friend’ requests from people (often strangers) who you once exchanged emails with or who knows a friend of a friend mounting up, people are constantly placed in a difficult predicament on a regular basis. “Who will I offend if I don’t connect?” is a question we always have to consider.

Social media has and will continue to penetrate our public and private lives, encouraging us all to become over-sharers. Brands understand this and would be foolish not to maximise the potential for engaging customers. For brands, using social media platforms to communicate will continue to escalate in the future and for the individual engaging with brands on Twitter and Facebook will become the norm. Perhaps the world of social media is one where the phrase ‘less is more’ might have some relevancy!