More Facebook Mystery
Posted on February 17th, 2009 in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Even as the site asserts its right to own and sell whatever you put there, a new Facebook full-disclosure “game” has arisen: “Memories of us.”
One of my friends posted this:
Here’s the deal…
Leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
Don’t send a message, leave a comment on here. Next, repost this in your notes and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses .
Between this, 25 Things You Didn’t Know about Me, and all the other stuff that people put on Facebook, the site is gradually acquiring the ability to develop pretty sophisticated psychological profiles of individual users. I’m not smart enough to know how all this information could be merged and analyzed, or to what ends it could be put…but nonetheless, it creeps me out.
I keep wondering: Who creates these little games which convince users to voluntarily post intimate information about themselves online? Somehow they just suddenly appear ; there’s no source information at all. We’re supposed to think that they just appear organically, and are user-generated. Highly unlikely. Look at the language above: “It’s actually pretty cool (and funny)…” This is trying too hard; it’s corporate-speak in the guise of casual candor.
Is Facebook writing games to prompt users to upload more personal data about themselves? And if so, why?
5 Responses
2/17/2009 11:26 am
And Facebook has ALOT of backdoors. Take it from someone who had too much time on her hands for over a year due to illness and some personal whatever. I spent a bunch of time playing with the damn thing. If you want to get info on someone from Facebook, it can be gotten, regardless of privacy blocks, etc. It’s not safe. Another reason why I hate it.
Ya just gotta be careful on the net about posting info, etc.and who you meet online, as you know. For example, a few months ago I made a “friend” on line through Match.com and on a random impulse I did a $50 online background check on him and found a multiple arrest record and a restraining order. I’m not kidding. Of course there are more stories there, but I wouldn’t be on Facebook again if you paid me. You are just asking for trouble.
2/17/2009 11:53 am
Actually that’s a great idea for an article, Richard. Just get someone to see how much info you can squeeze randomly out of a Facebook stranger. I think that info would be shocking to many.
2/17/2009 1:13 pm
I was thrown back a bit when reading the article this morning on my way to work, but not at all surprised.
FB is a business, no? And we have once again taken on our role as American Consumer.
In my humble opinion it seems to be a pretty brilliant marketing tool. Just look at the way our now President utilized the network and reaped the benefits of free marketing. “Obama si”
I am interested, Richard, to know what ideas you may have when asking “and if so, why?”
Who do you think wants our information? And why do you think ‘why’? I’m so curious.
As far as privacy is concerned, isn’t it the responsibility of a person to take responsibility for themselves?
I think that is where we have strayed (on SO many levels!). People are less apt to take responsibility for their own actions and then find themselves in sticky situations.
Just look at what the news has to say these days about some of our “heroes”…
I’m not suggesting that people don’t have a need for secrets or privacy. Where would all the fun go? The mystery…?
However, the article does mention that people failed to read the fine print.
Responsibility.
…….
I am also interested in knowing who thought this stuff up!
2/17/2009 9:32 pm
Facebook is privacy-challenged to be sure, and doesn’t know how to seduce people into giving up their personal information without verging into deceptive territory. But perhaps one of its problems these days is that its Chief Privacy Officer is running for the position of AG of California. You might think that would make him more cautious to keep Facebook’s act clean, but maybe not. It is California, after all.
At the end of the day, you do have to wonder. Facebook has gone through a series of public embarrassments over privacy violations. People are still signing up in droves. Is that really because they don’t understand what they are doing, or because they don’t care?
2/18/2009 5:29 am
Seems that Facebook has already reverted to the previous terms of service in something of a rerun of the Beacon mess.
(Slate had a fun article on tracking the 25 Things phenomenon a few days back, http://www.slate.com/id/2211068)