wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

I was much more outraged by Google Buzz

Why leaving FB is problematic: it has achieved the significant mass of users that makes it a viable social network where 400 million+ people can be found. Social networking is not the same as info searching -- the social interconnections become exponentially valuable as more people join the network. Hence, alternative social network sites are possible, but they'll never be as useful unless they achieve the same size as FB.

I agree, Maya. I have had ZERO problems with weird links or pop-ups or my privacy settings changing on me. And I think that's because I do not become fans of groups or pages, I don't use applications, I check my settings every couple weeks or whenever I hear a new policy is out....I use it to stay in touch with friends and I manage it. It's free and it's up to me to manage it

This is why I don't use Facebook. I work on a computer all day. Home is my solace; no cable or internet. What a breath of fresh air!

The problem with leaving Facebook is - now that my friends are all on Facebook - they don't use their e-,mail anymore and they often don't answer their phones!

I tried to reach my friend and my cousin recently. I didn't get them on their home or their cell phones, but when I logged into FB, there they were 'cahtting'.

My other friend says I and her sister are the only people who are actually using their cellphones to speak -as opposed to
sending text message. Just two of us!

There are thousands of people wanting to build Facebook alternatives. If they succeed and become as useful and ubiquitous as Facebook, they'll try to do exactly what Facebook is doing right now.

This is one of the worst "navel-gazing" consumer whine fests I've ever heard. As has been pointed out, it does not cost nothing to run an operation like Facebook, but the reason it is so big is because it does not charge the user. If Facebook could support itself with user fees and not have to depend on data mining, I'm sure they would do so.

But the truth is that half of Facebooks user's would disappear if they charged $2/month for the service, and then half of the other half would disappear when they realized half of their friends are gone.

You want your cake, and you want to eat it too, and you don't want to have to exercise your brain at all in the process. Whine, whine, whine.

You know what y'all need: REAL PROBLEMS. This is pathetic.

Sadly, I must point out that even deactivating your Facebook account will not ensure that your information stays private. Facebook will hang onto all of your data forever. http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/11/go-ahead-quit-facebo.html

Where's the Tipping Point?

When will their didactic policies make most people disconnect from groups, remove their interests and activities, stop using apps, and remove as much personal info as possible - to the point where Facebook no longer has the info they want to sell more ads.

VERY glad to hear there are alternative sites in the works.

It's not just that they change the settings, it's that they don't notify users ahead of time. It wouldn't be so bad if they said, "we're going to make this info public starting in 2 weeks, do you want to opt out?" They just make the changes, your info gets out there, & anyone who got it before you opt out will still have it. Some friends have told me they just put the minimal info on their pages, but I still don't think it's worth it.

there is a new pop up on facebook that tells you to "be careful" who you link to, it turns out if you click "ok" you are directed to a "ad" for clothing! what the heck!

I guess the link isn't linked. Still: I can search facebook for anyone who has posted about "hate my boss" or "beer pong" or any range of altogether unprofessional topics.

Privacy settings are one thing, but plenty of people just don't realize how public their antics are. The Beer Pong page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beer-Pong) has 54000 fans. That is 54000 people who are advertising their binge drinking. Do they mean for everyone to see that? Or just their pals?

Remember Friendster? MySpace? I see Facebook's stumbles as opportunities for competitors.

My mom who is not in anyway "online" was shocked about the amount of her personal information I was able to retrieve (on her request) to see if she was out there. She was absolutely floored!

Facebook folks are actual voluntarily exposing themselves, have no business complaining!

I am so sick of this topic! It is not that difficult to manage your privacy settings on Facebook. If you can't take 5 pro-active, responsible minutes every few weeks to make a few clicks and make sure you're not opting-in on any new features, then leave. Enough with all the self-entitled complaining about what is a FREE SERVICE. If you don’t want to share, don’t share. Don’t publish your likes and interests; don't have 500 friends; don’t accept pointless applications; don’t become a fan of pointless pages; be a little more judicious with that "like" button. I use Facebook to connect with people, not play Tetris or join clubs. It's not that complicated.

Mean people suck, and mean companies suck.

But they have a monopoly; like most users, I've found it's my only way of keeping up with all my friends and family, so I cannot close my account.

All I can do is stop click on ads, stop using all third-party applications, and never use the "login with your Facebook account" option on other sites. And add a monthly reminder to re-check all my privacy settings.

Addendum: If I wanted a commercialized site for self-expression, I'd've stuck to whineSpace.

First of all: if you're worried about gov surveillance, I wouldn't assume Facebook privacy settings will do anything for you.

Second of all:
https://graph.facebook.com/search?q=hate%20my%20boss&type=post

I assume we have all absorbed that the very concept of facebook is based on giving up privacy (otherwise known as sharing information)... parsing the definition of privacy, with regard to facebook, can quickly become rather existential.

Do any of you really believe that anything you have ever done on the Internet was EVER private? Really? There is a record of everything you have ever done on the Internet. Even sites that are blocked from search engines are crawled. Wake up. There has never, nor will there ever be, any privacy on the Internet.

In this infinite age of technology you should always assume NOTHING IS PRIVATE! Because nothing, is private and nothing is permanently deleted!

The minute FarceBook started seeing dollar signs, the promise of exclusivity (and the users' trust) went out the window.

Steve Rambam was right: Privacy is dead - get over it.

There are starting to be some very real privacy concerns with Facebook. One of the reasons I don't think Facebook takes these concerns seriously is that Facebook users whine like crazy any time ANYTHING changes on the site. It's a boy-who-cried-wolf situation.

Please remind your listeners that Facebook no longer allows you to keep some information private no matter how you put your settings: where you went to school, your job, and all your interests. You no longer can control who sees that information, it's available to the entire web no matter what you do. This is aside from the opt in/out debacle.

before associating an outside fb app, such as creating a separate section of fb for family members, one is told that (paraphrasing here) "by installing this app you are giving 3rd party access to your account."

why on earth would someone give access to a party that is literally random? It's equivalent giving your credit card to your waiter's friend's friend. this safety issue is on a whole other level than measuring one's trust of fb inc., which at least can be held to some legal accountability.

I do not have a Facebook profile, nor do I Twitter or blog. I have received invitations from Facebook saying 'So-and-so has invited you to join Facebook'. I have received more than one invite, and each person says they did not send it. What's even more interesting, each invitation has a list of other Facebook members whom I know! There is clearly some sort of data mining going on here, or how else would Facebook know I know these other people? Sorry Brian, I love your show but I'm not going to be one of your 'fans'!

what is privacy?