I have several friends refusing to use Facebook or other social networking sites because they fear they are giving up their right to privacy. I have another group of friends who use social networking sites, but use made-up names in an effort to “take from the community” but protect their own privacy. Still others login with a spouse or friend’s account in order to engage in the community without fully committing.

These are interesting positions to take, since most, if not all of these people have Social Security numbers, use credit cards regularly and do their banking online. In my opinion, all that information is much more capable of damaging a person than posting a photo of your face online.

At one of the annual SXSWi events this year, we heard from a guy whose answer to the open-ended question “What’s it gonna take?” was “USE YOUR REAL NAME, BE YOU.” His answer was clearly directed at empowering people to be themselves online: to stop hiding behind fake names and fake pictures.

As social networking sites and integrated community features become increasingly popular with our clients, our challenge is to get users past the fear of posting a photo, telling what they are doing or sharing what they are passionate about. After all, these are the details that make a community of people interesting and worth joining.

What I think it’s gonna take, is an understanding that we all get back what we give. We need to be real, we need to share and engage in meaningful ways, and we’ll be rewarded with the best that the online community has to offer.