Thomas Crampton “The internet is going to become a nasty place !”

Thomas Crampton’s life is changing at the speed of the internet and he is cumulating with reasonable stoicism three of the most stressfull events in life : getting married, changing jobs – after 12 years in journalism, he will launch start-ups supported by Next Media, one of the largest media group in Asia – and moving from Paris to Hong Kong. Nonetheless, his facebook mood says: “I’m feeling Wooohooo!”

He definitely thinks Facebook is a brilliant Social Networking Site (soon to be acquired). Yet he brings up two upcoming issues in social networks : privacy and digital security.
While Thomas wanted to protect his private life in Facebook, the action of uncliking a little box “No longer engaged” created waves as the fly in Brazil (the Movie). It got most of his friends thinking he was breaking up his engagement and his upcoming wedding (next week). And this experience led to a series of papers in Time Magazine, Boing Boing, The London Evening Standard and Liberation last week.

Thomas also believes that internet, the virtual world is going to ressemble more and more the real world.

The internet is going to become a nasty place like the real world…Cultural differences will show more and more on the internet, like in real life.

Being an undeterred realist rather than a blind optimist or a whining pessimist, i find Thomas vision rather positive . Better be prepared : we’ll be able to do something good out of it!

Thomas Crampton, forever journalist and soon entrepreneur, interviewed on July 13, 2007