Trust me, I know you better than anyone else

We value our friends, whether it be their opinions, ideas, advice, praises, critiques, questions, and answers. We trust them, we confide in them, we open up to them, and we don't put on a mask around them. Our friends know us better than anyone else...and social media is capitalizing on this.

I read this really interesting article in the New York Times this week about how online companies are turning to social networking sites to now target their customers- through their friends. For example, when you log-on to your Amazon account, you can now log-on to Facebook and Amazon will display YOUR friend's favorite books, movies, tv shows, and any other interests.  So, while Amazon will still recommend to you, they are paying attention to what your friends like...because you are.

Another example. A social networking site called Loopt, which has about 3.4 million users, now shows its users the kinds of restaurants YOUR friends like. Online companies will maximize on this...if your friends like it, more than likely, you'll like it too.

Twitter now polls what kind of hotels and airlines you and your friends use and lets you see the results....hotel and airline companies are rushing to these sites instead of "counting clicks" from online advertisement. The customer freely gives and takes this information...so these companies know the data valid.

I loved this quote from the article: “People are likely to find what your friends are saying about the iPhone 4 or a Chinese restaurant more helpful in a Web search,” said Matt Cutts, a software engineer who oversees search quality at Google.

Companies are capitalizing on the trust you place in your friends. Is it invasive? Another step closer to minimizing any privacy you may have? Or is it an absolutely brilliant business strategy? I would love to know your thoughts!

Here is the article, just in case the link didn't work for you: (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/technology/13search.html?_r=1&ref=technology)