I’m often amazed by how blatantly honest people feel they can be online.

In just about every social setting, we’re trained from birth to be careful with what we say. We’re taught to obey social norms and not discuss the seemingly mundane aspects of our lives and are repeatedly told “if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.”

Yet somehow, this does not translate online. We see this evidence in every facet of our cyber lives. We see notes in responses to articles that are borderline (if not fully) slanderous, conversations between two Facebook-bound lovers that in any other situation would be deemed “schmoopie” and, yes, even Tweets about what one ate for lunch. (For the record, yesterday I tried to get into 5 Guys but the line was out the door; my review will have to wait until my next jaunt to Transcona.)

While much of this openness is better destined for a virtual landfill, there are some real interesting insights out there.

Earlier today I was surfing through Facebook and came across a post from a Winnipeg social media entity, asking simply what people would do with $1,000.

The varied nature of the responses is probably what you would expect if you were conducting a sociology experiment – you got those who would treat themselves to something like football tickets, others who would show appreciation to a family member by taking them for an extravagant meal, others who would put it away for rainy day and others who would use the money for immediate needs like health or debt.

Naturally, this is a great opportunity to learn more about your customer base. The same sociological experiment can be applied to any business who wants to know more about their consumers. Something to keep in mind as you plan your summer marketing strategies.