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Earlier this week, Facebook notified me that one of my friends had used an online dating application. The dating application is called Social Connect. Not only did Facebook tell me, but also notified anyone recognized as one of his friends.

His romantic endeavours were announced by automation, and without Facebook asking him if he minded his personal life details being shared to potentially hundreds or thousands of other people. Does Facebook even know if this is true?

Turns out, it wasn’t true and he was not using this online dating application, rather, the announcement initiated by Facebook was raised simply because he chose to delete was he described as “an annoying dating app.” It seems that Facebook’s new automatic settings don’t take into account the users intentions, rather their general activity including the deleting of the online dating app, although Facebook spread the news regardless.

Ever since the inception of Facebook in 2004, privacy concerns have been open for debate. Only last month, these privacy concerns deepened thus it’s far easier to accidently inform people what we are doing rather than not tell them. The consequences facing the near billion Facebook members are only just beginning to surface. Privacy concerns are being raised due to the wealth of information being accumulated by one company, especially a company with a cavalier past concerning privacy.

Facebook brain-child, Mark Zuckerberg, has told various sources that the sharing of information has developed into the social norm. But one can’t help wonder if this accumulation of data is not designed for current or future commercial use, particularly going head-to-head with Internet powerhouse Google.

The new Facebook applications do remove much of the requirement to even think, however briefly, in terms of what to share with our network of friends – or even around the world. The social networking giant can share it for you automatically, just ask the guy who took the simple step of deleting his online dating app! Even if you listen to a Facebook music app, every track you play or download could end up in the tickers of your friends or streaming feeds of what other people are doing.

If you go for a jog to try out the latest Nike+, or the new iPod shuffle app, your thoughts and opinion will be logged for all to review. Fancy watching a movie in private? Not likely, the title could be broadcast to all your friends. Even if you were to read an article via the Facebook apps of The Washington Post or Sydney Morning Herald, the headlines you visit might appear among your friends news feeds.

Where the problem lies herein is the fact that Facebook determines a simple click or download as an endorsement for sharing thus making social networks easier to use and potentially as an alternative to searching web documents on Google for gathering information. Like the guy who simply deleted an online dating sites app, Facebook determined this action as a cause to tell his network of friends.

The direction of sharing people’s information via Facebook is being described as one of the most exciting battles for tech supremacy between Google and Facebook. Aside from these two Internet monsters, various well-funded, rapidly-growing Silicon Valley technology companies are facing-off from many different angles in the race to the next new way to find information, to determine how and where we spend our time, and how people can connect more efficiently.

This article was researched and authored by John Butler. John also contributes articles to other various topics including information relating to dating sites Australia, online dating and social networking news, dating and relationship advice and free dating sites reviews.

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