So the dreaded deadlines are over, the exam is complete, and I’m feeling strangely free (and no I’m not thinking about my rather enormous dissertation to be done – minor detail at this point).

It’s nice to have some free time on my hands, and some lounging around at home time, it has also been different to spend some time on my computer which doesn’t involve frantic checking of word counts every 2 minutes or commiserating on facebook with classmates about work!

So, I thought this week I would peruse the magnificent web for some undiscovered fun, but I found it strangely boring! Being on my computer just seems to give me sore shoulders (and ‘mouse-arm’) these days! And sad to say my internet routine remains fairly predictable, my homepage is BBC news so I run through the headlines there, then I head over to facebook (of course), then I check my email, and Spotify will be already up and running by this time.

I suppose I’m one of those hard to reach audiences, I really don’t seek out new stuff online, I’d rather wait for someone to send me a link or suggest something to me, I’m what ‘word of mouth’ was invented for! But I’m not the only one out there, so savvy PR practitioners and marketers have to come up with some pretty interesting and attention grabbing stunts to create some buzz. I and my other lazy web users won’t come looking for you; you have to come to us.

I’m sure we’ve all seen Blendtec’s ‘will it blend’, which is ridiculous yet vaguely compelling; it’s proved a pretty successful marketing campaign despite its silliness. Some organisations do these kinds of PR stunts really well; I found one that really tickled me. Science and technology website Scenta had commuters in uproar over a new Cloning Scenta which was really just an advertisement for the website but had some gullible people thinking that a human cloning centre was due to open.

These are the new rules of engagement for PROs and marketers, it’s their job to make apathetic people like me sit up and take notice of their organisation in a cluttered business and consumer environment.

Whichever social network site you use, whether you facebook, Orkut, mypsace or otherwise, it’s a safe bet there is at least one member of your family on your friend list. Be it your cousins, siblings, aunts, or heaven forbid, your mother, one of your relatives will be privy to Saturday night’s excesses kindly posted by your real-life friends for all to see.

Now personally, I don’t mind my sisters or my cousins laughing at my drunk dancing, but my mother? There are just some things your mum doesn’t need to see. My mum is far from naïve, and I’m sure she’s not in the dark about the less academic side of my university life. But I’d really rather not have to have a hung-over conversation on a Sunday morning about why my status update reads, “Michelle is not sure if she’s wearing her own pants this morning…” And just because your mum isn’t on facebook herself doesn’t stop one of your well intentioned cousins asking her, “So, how is Michelle after her arrest?” Thanks cuz.

Similarly, I’m not naïve enough to think that my mum and dad didn’t get up to their fair share of mischief in their younger days, but they didn’t have the evidence plastered all over the internet for all to see within a few hours of stumbling home. It kind of makes me jealous, where they had plausible deniability, I can only hit the ‘untag’ button with the vain hope no one recognises me eagerly attempting to do the YMCA.

A friend recently told me he has closed his facebook profile except to his friends because he is aware that potential employers may well look at his profile for more information. What a terrifying thought, I really don’t want potential employers or colleagues reading through my favourite quotations or my friend’s silly messages. I might know what they mean but things are often misconstrued, especially on the internet.

It got me seriously thinking about where the boundaries in our social networks lie, both virtual and real-life. We are all well aware of the threat of identity theft, or computer hackers. But how many of us seriously think about the ramifications of sharing our pictures and stories with untold numbers of people? Is it fair for your private life to be subject to scrutiny from your boss? It is after all, private isn’t it?

Of course, you could always close your profile or limit outside access…but then how could you possibly know what your friends are getting up to…?