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General discussion

Isn't the facebook privacy thing getting a tad bit old now?

May 29, 2010 3:01PM PDT

I agree that when Facebook changed everyone's privacy settings to public, it was a huge deal. I was annoyed along with everyone else.

However since then, I've heard about how unsimplified facebook's privacy settings are. Since the new settings took place, I've heard a few grumblings how the "recommended" setting still leaves your status and photos public.

With all the hoopla going on about Facebook, people seem to forget that it's still a social network. There are people who want to have their pictures or statuses shared with the world. As for privacy. The settings are fine to me. If people are anal about their privacy, they should be going through those settings with a fine toothed comb anyway.

And I know this is a bit of a cop out response, but if you're really worried about something being shared to the general public, then don't put it up period. Facebook is a social network and should be treated like Twitter is. It should have things that people don't mind being public.

This whole thing seemed to have evolved from "Facebook made my settings public without my permission" to "It's too hard to keep my privacy on Facebook"

Discussion is locked

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Well...
May 29, 2010 6:15PM PDT

Hmm. I just don't get it. What were all these people so worried about privacy using facebook for anyway, gossiping behind peoples backs? Talking about their last one night stand? I find it hard to believe people would ever have trusted facebook to talk about such things.

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Since when does social mean the world?
May 29, 2010 10:41PM PDT

Most people think of social as their little family/friends network, kind of how real life is. Sure, your family members and your friends have other friends that have nothing to do with you, but it's not like you have to share anything with those "friends of family/friends". Facebook doesn't like that, for some reason. And worse, they'd prefer to go totally overboard and let your information be entirely public --far beyond "friends of family/friends".

The arguments that say "why should you trust Facebook" and "you don't need to use it" are cop outs. In today's electronic world, you can say that about virtually anything and everything you do. You'd have to live the Luddite life to avoid potential privacy invasions. Should we just say "you have no --none-- --zero-- privacy anymore"? Should your ISP be free to publish wherever you go online? If not, why not? After all, you don't "NEED" to use the internet with these arguments, right? Sorry; privacy should be job one, not "we'll offer it IF you know how to find it and set it".

There are any number of ways Facebook can make gazillions of dollars without having to share people's information outright. Targeted ads based on non-identifying information could easily be implemented. There's no need for this ongoing assault.

And for anyone who hasn't seen it, the NY Times did a good job showing what a ridiculous maze of options one would have to trudge through to set privacy effectively on Facebook. Look here and tell me that this wasn't absurd:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/12/business/facebook-privacy.html

So, the "hoopla" was well warrented. And obviously this company needs to kept in check given its history in this regard.

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(NT) couldn't have said it better myself. nice.
May 30, 2010 7:19AM PDT
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The thing is...
May 30, 2010 7:36AM PDT

...the privacy settings are nowhere near as complicated as people make them out to be. I was able to set my privacy settings to my liking in less than 5 minutes before they made them simpler. And yet, everyone makes a big deal about how many options there are, like that link shows.

And it's not so much the "you don't need to use it" argument. More of "what do you have on it that you dont' want to share". Address info? Phone numbers? Why on earth would you want that stuff on there in the first place? Meanwhile, no one seems to care about things that people share on Twitter. Why? Because people know that info is going to be public. So why not treat Facebook the same way?


And what was said the day after the new settings came about? "Oh they're not good enough." Seriously? I don't know what more they can do at this point. They've said they wouldn't change users defaults, they made the settings simpler. What more can they do?

When you start a myspace account, everything is made public by default. And yet, NO ONE said ANYTHING about that. Facebook messes up once and everyone is complaining about how much info is public on Facebook when just about every social network I've run into is the same. Myspace, Facebook, Myyearbook, Tagged, TWITTER.

It's starting to get hypocritical at this point.

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It should also be mentioned that....
May 30, 2010 7:55AM PDT

....the info that I wouldn't want to be shared publically is info that I wouldn't put on the internet in the first place. I don't know about everyone else, but I go on social networks to be...you know....SOCIAL. Reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. If I have info that I only want my close friends to know about, I'll use email.

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My point is only
May 30, 2010 8:55AM PDT

People are crazy to trust social networking sites with damaging information. Especially considering even if it's all kept private, do you really have 50 or so people you trust implicitly, you're really ok to share with old high school acquaintances who you're cheating on? It surprises me how some people use facebook.
There's a simple common sense rule that I think should be obvious. Don't write anything on the internet you don't want people reading and if you have to, keep it to private messages.
That doesn't mean stop using social networking.

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Facebook started out as.....
May 30, 2010 12:07PM PDT

....a pretty private network. You really couldn't see anything unless you were someone's friend. I did like it like that back then. However, it hasn't been that way for about two years or so. Everyone who's on Facebook now uses it like Myspace for the most part.

In the end, if you don't want it to get out to the public, then either take the time to learn the privacy settings, get off the site, or just don't put private info on a social network. It's pretty much one of the laws of the net. If you REALLY don't want something to get out, then don't put it on the net in the first place.

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If you have nothing to hide, you don't need envelopes or
May 30, 2010 4:17AM PDT

locks on your doors either. You wouldn't need to close the bathroom doors.

The fact is that privacy matters and people that ignore this basic fact of human nature tread on thin ice. People don't appreciate being sold one thing and then having that rug pulled out from underneath them. Facebook was marketed as a place where you could share info with your family and friends, not the world. You couldn't even get an account or if you didn't have an .edu address in the beginning. The wide open connected web it was not.

Only a megalomaniac or a fool treats his customers with contempt. And that is exactly what Zuckerburg did. He may have fixed the problem somewhat but his credibility has been seriously damaged.