The paper surveys the risks and benefits which the user faces in the networked environment and how those challenges can be overcome. The question is how to measure the potential or benefits of such a complex phenomenon - the collaborative cross-domains in social media. As one of the solutions we propose to consider this in the context of digital tools and the entities involved into cooperation-collaboration: core researches, engineers, developing information systems and tools, marketing technologists, users-consumers of services and products. The ways of collecting data and the measures for protecting privacy issues of the data collected online, as they were applied during the last two decades are overviewed in this paper. There is no universal law protecting the privacy of online users in the global world and hardly will it ever be. For a while, only the awareness of the users, the professional Codes of Ethics and fairness of firms involved into collaboration could help them avoid pitfalls hidden in social media. The summary table shows at a glance benefits and dangers met in social by its explorers and users.