You can read about it on many blogs. Online privacy is a hot issue. So is information overload. This also accounts for development of the new, next Bemba web service. I believe that I can solve both of these challenges with just one solution. Do you agree?

An example of a blogpost on privacy is ‘Questions to Consider in the Coming Privacy Wars’ by Marshall on ReadWriteWeb. Information overload is also discussed, but moreover in connection with a specific web service. For instance, Kevin wrote a both funny and serious article ‘Facebook Applications, The New Spam Part 3’ on Buzz Networker.

Privacy and information overload may also become issues for users of Bemba. Both are about control: Privacy: ‘to who do I want to show which of my websites?’ Information overload: ‘which kind of websites do I want to see, of whom?’ My solution for Bemba is called ‘topics’. Bemba users can choose and add a topic to the websites that they save to their profile. Now let me start with information overload and discuss privacy after that.

Information overload
I follow Aaron’s website posts on Bemba. But I do not want all of them, only the ones that fit my topics of interest. For instance ‘sports’ and ‘humor’. Will Aaron be motivated to choose one topic out ten every time he saves a new website to his profile? I think he will, because he knows how it helps him to reduce information overload when others do so, and he wants to help his followers because he wants to keep them.

Privacy
I can choose whether someone can follow me or not, just like on Twitter. When I choose to block my account, people will have to ask for permission to follow me. If Aaron asks me for permission to follow my web discoveries, I might as well choose the topics of which I would like him to follow me. There you go. Aaron may follow my websites with topic ‘professional’. But not ‘babes’. He’ll have to find some himself.

New issues arise
New issues arise. One of them: ‘Which topics are available for users?’. Do you see other challenges? Do you like the idea or totally disagree? I would love to know!