whatever you’re looking at is simultaneously looking at you

Great quote from my insightful former coworker Greg Yardley about the AOL search history scandal.

Stop treating the Internet like a book or newspaper and remember that whatever you’re looking at is simultaneously looking at you.

Every page request, every graphic dispalyed, every search query; each is a small exchange in a conversation. And Web 2.0 is all about conversations. But this is a substrata of conversation going on below all those blogs and forums and comments.