Why do people share embarrassing information online?
That photo you saw on Facebook was hilarious — until you realized it was a picture of your Aunt Maggie. As you surf the Internet, you may stumble upon a blog or social networking site and see something that makes you wonder why people share embarrassing information online. To find out, we need to understand how many people participate in online communities. As of 2009, millions of people maintain profiles on social networking sites, including personal blogs. More than 50 million blogs exist, and their contributors post a total of more than 1.5 million comments a day [source: Sifry]. In Canada, the average Joe or Jane has a profile on seven or more online sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn [source:
