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RSSCompany executives were in talks through yesterday afternoon and the change could come as early as today, according to a report today in Business Week. Facebook hasn't yet confirmed this report.
Currently, when Facebook members buy items like movie tickets or shoes on participating e-commerce sites, news of those purchases are sent to the members' friends.
Members have an opportunity to decline to share that information, but the opt-out system is seriously flawed, with users not seeing the opt-outs and/or not understanding that doing nothing means Facebook will share information about their purchases. And who can blame them? E-commerce sites have been saying for years that they respect buyers' privacy; people have no reason to think that the sites are now sharing information about their purchases by default.
A MoveOn group, "Petition: Facebook, stop invading my privacy!" started last week to protest the Beacon program, has now drawn more than 48,000 members. MoveOn is urging Facebook to make the program opt-in only -- which would certainly be more in line with people's expectations about privacy.
Of course, it's not just Facebook that's seeing a backlash here. Some of the company's advertisers, like Overstock, Fandango and Zappos, also can't be happy to see their names repeatedly mentioned in connection with privacy breaches.
Facebook obviously implemented Beacon in hopes of drawing more ad dollars. But given the pushback from members, not to mention the bad press for advertisers, it seems inevitable that the company will have to make some changes to the program.
RSS FEEDS
I use Facebook a bit, but I find myself using it less and less as it becomes more and more intrusive. All those annoying apps are bad enough, but most of them make you pass through a screen that encourages you to "share" the app with your friends. People just blindly "OK" their way through the screens until they get to the app. In the meantime, all your friends are sent a misleading message that implies you have personally invited them to use the app.
The extent to which people just stumble forward clicking "OK" without thinking is really starting to get me down.
A. If you absolutely need to tell your friends what you bought, call them, email them directly. The general population of Facebook are not your friends. Beacon makes this perfectly clear and calls all of those who have nothing better to do with their lives than to post their garbage on line, idiots. Facebook is selling your info and you are getting nothing.
B. Also, anyone who is touting products and brands and not getting paid for it are idiots. Facebook is mocking you and calling you an idiot and you don't know it. And if all you have to do is to read this stuff, there's plenty of trash to pick up and a bridge for sale. These bragging rights are nothing more than marketing tools for the businesses who want to sell you more stuff to get you into more debt. Why don't you learn who owns your debt, therefore a part of you and then spread that around. You may want to change your habits and keep your private life private.