Are You a Ninja Librarian

Admit it, it is a fun headline to type. In some seriousness the story today about the CIA's social media data farm reminds us of the need to be vigilant with our own brands and information. Yes, someone is watching, and while the CIA charter restricts the gathering of domestic information, don't kid yourself. And worry less about the government and more about the marketers.

Aren't you a marketer? Yes.
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But I'm not gleaning facts about your preferences and meshing that against your spending habits, and worse, against your credit scores.

The story also has a couple of deep facts to pull out from the middle and end. Notice how much the CIA is using real-time (Twitter, in particular) to gain sentiment analysis.

As I tell students, ignore the monitoring aspect at your peril. You won't know why you didn't get that second call back, that final job offer, that person's cell number (or have that person call you back after you gave them yours). High likelihood they read or saw something they didn't like in your social profile and statements.

Here's the other marketeers: if you can work "ninja" into your story line and give it a sexy pitch (according to the AP's quote of the director of this "secret" group, they are looking for Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo type people) you will get your story out.

Google it. You will find it in over 450 papers today. That is serious reach for a Saturday feature.