Spend enough time in the media and you will eventually run into the following situation: (1) You meet someone and tell them you are a working journalist. (2) That person will then — voluntarily and unsolicited — drop some jaw-dropping piece of information in your lap. (ka-ching!). (3) They will then stop, look at you, and — with a look of horror in their eyes as they realize their mistake — ask, "You're not going to write about this, are you?"

For those of you who have lead a sheltered life, the answer to that question is almost always: Yes. I am. Maybe even a lot. And if it's big enough, so will a lot of other people. For those of you with limited experience with the press and other members of the leech family, always remember to watch what you say.

This includes Facebook.

Over the last couple of months there has been a furore over Facebook's handling of people's personal information. Most of the complaints come from people who rushed to join the site when it was the Next Big Thing. They filled it with gossip, pictures and other personal information and now have the nerve to act surprised when they realised that Facebook is actually a company that wants to make money — in part — by sharing some of that information with advertisers.

How did you think they were able to pay their employees? There is no free lunch.

The folks at Facebook deserve some blame too, at least with regard to how they've handled the privacy issue.

They aren't what you would call upfront about how they handle your private information. The company does say they "share your information with third parties when we believe the sharing is permitted by you, reasonably necessary to offer our services, or when legally required to do so".

Fine print

The problem is defining just what ‘necessary' and ‘believe' mean. So far it seems to mean how your information is used is left up to the discretion of Facebook.

That is why Facebook's days as the most popular site may be over. I'm not saying the site will fail — it probably won't — but other sites are quickly finding new and better ways of marketing directly to consumers.

Foursquare.com, a site that combines smartphone technology (i.e. GPS) and social networking, is quickly becoming one of the hottest sites on the web. Anyone with the application on their phone can ‘check in' on the site at their favourite hangout. The person with the most check-ins at a given place, such as Starbucks, is awarded the title of mayor. Starbucks recently announced that they will be using the site in the US by giving the mayors of their stores $1 off selected drinks.

Unlike a lot of GPS-based social networks, Foursquare works even here in the UAE. From my desk in the Gulf News building, the sites list 31 businesses within a kilometre that I can check-in at and leave comments about. I even used Foursquare to find a Starbucks within walking distance of my apartment that I never knew was there.

It's brilliant. Lured by the possibility of receiving a "favoured" status at their favourite places, Foursquare is helping companies get an insight into consumers' spending habits that they can use to drive business without compromising privacy.

That's the kind of give and take Facebook needs to develop with its audience, provided they can win their trust back before it's too late.