I may be one of the few people around today under age 60 who is not on Facebook. Many of my friends are on it. And there are even some people from my past. How do I know? I can look them up, even though I am not registered to the site. Of course, I can’t get any real information about them until I sign up and request their friendship. Recent news about this popular website, however, still doesn’t have me convinced I should join. Am I wrong?
“Social” Ads
Facebook announced, although very quietly, I’m guess so as not to disturb the natives, that it plans to inject targeting advertisements into its members conversations. Users still have the option to say no to sharing the ads with other members, but those others have no say on whether or not they want to receive the ads. One example of these social ads: your friend buys a product through one of the many companies that are now building websites on Facebook. That company will then be able to put your friend’s face as part of an ad it sends to you urging you to shop at their store. Facebook will also rely on user profiles to send targeted ads to its members. The announcement was made not prominently when users logged in, but on a side blog that most users wouldn’t even notice. Critics call the social ads creepy and refer to past privacy complaints.
Privacy Complaints
Facebook has faced the issue of privacy complaints before. A feature that allowed members to track profile changes made by other members sparked protests. The popular opinion was that the feature was a form of stalking. Facebook has since made changes to allow members to “manually” turn the feature off.
With social networking sites, such as Facebook, gaining in popularity (being the number one online hangout for 18 to 24-year olds), privacy advocates are watching closely.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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