Some things in social networking come off as creepy, others don't. Usually, the key difference is whether the user or the system leads in applying the feature.

Some things in social networking come off as creepy, others don't. Usually, the key difference is whether the user or the system leads in applying the feature. Using facial recognition to help me tag my friends in a photo is not particularly creepy. Automatically tagging my friends in a photo right when I upload it, definitely creepy. Take an example: I usually interact with Alice, Bob, and Charlie around the subject of Sports. I, as a user, will find it creepy if the system automatically creates a "Sports" group with Alice, Bob, and Charlie. However, it's a different circumstance if the system waits for me to create a "Sports" group, and then searches our history, and says "we suggest adding these users to your new group based on previous interaction". If you let the user lead the activity, and then aid them in the process, you sidestep a lot of the social creepiness of making decisions for them.