PR Research in a Social-Networking World

I am having my PR Research class do research on me. Their first assignment is to find out as much about me as they can using whatever resources they already have. It's an exercise in realizing how much about a person (and their affiliations) is available and how little control someone has over it. So, instead of trying to fight it in this social-networking world in which we live, we should learn to embrace it by putting correct info out there.

It's kind of like open content philosophies: instead of focusing on taking the time to fight negative uses, focus on new positive uses that can further your cause.