The good news--society is becoming more open and honest:
Money used to be a taboo subject. Not anymore, thanks to Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, which have created a generation willing to talk about anything and everything online. Several new sites are incorporating that impulse into the world of money, blending social networking with personal finance.
The bad news--guys like this:
Brian Zacharias, 23, a senior economics major at the University of Virginia, was very aware of how he was doing and wanted others to know it. That's why he opted for Covestor, which launched last summer. His portfolio is up 40 percent since he joined.
"I like to let other people know how well I'm doing and put that information out to the public," he said. "I turned out to be a good trader, and I want people to know about it."
--Isaac Chotiner