Last week Google Reader added a feature allowing "shared" blog posts to be made available to contacts (actually you were forced into sharing, but that's another post). Initially I thought this was an amazing addition. Since I already share articles I deem particularly worthwhile with several friends via private feed, I was excited to share and receive lots of new great feeds and posts.

This concept of 'public knowledge sharing' is something I have done in Del.icio.us for a while. I invest a lot of time noting, organizing, and tagging my bookmarks because I see them as a real assets (wake up Yahoo!). For example, at a moment's notice I could pull up 20 articles on the best strategies for naming a new company. I think this is so powerful.

My problem is as follows: Why am I being so nice to people? Admittedly, I never tell anyone who I am on Del.icio.us because I want to be somewhat protective over my bookmarks and notes. While I certainly take advantage of other people's work, I'm not sure I want the same done to me. My 4000 bookmarks have taken me two years to build and yet I readily offer it up to anyone for free.

Part of me believes I should absolutely embrace open knowledge sharing. However, my capitalist half emphatically disagrees. My other 50% wants to keep my knowledge secret. In many ways, it's my access to these personal knowledge bases that makes me valuable as a consultant and advisor.

Bottom line is Google Reader sharing has started to make me think long and hard about what I'm willing to do for others. I'm having difficulty drawing a distinction between what I consider 'personal IP' and what I consider information for the "social commons."

Suggestions?

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