"It's
not a bad solution--the vast majority of Facebook's near-500 million users who don't care about such things would be offered better, if slightly automated, protection," writes Fast Company.
Still, ReadWriteWeb characterizes
the planned changes as "Facebook's two-steps-forward-one-step back policy, pioneered during the Beacon
and friends list debacles."
What's more, The Wall Street Journal suggests that the changes could have brought implications for the future of Facebook -- even threatening its young founder's ambitions for the company. "A backlash over Facebook Inc.'s privacy practices
has triggered disagreement inside the company that could force Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to scale back efforts to encourage users to share more about themselves in public."
Hinting at unrest from within the company, The Journal adds: "The site's privacy travails have rattled Facebook employees and put pressure on Mr. Zuckerberg, who has argued for years that its users
should be more open with their information ... He has at times over-ruled employees who argue Facebook should make more information private, by default, according to people familiar with the matter."
"What I'm still wondering is why Mark Zuckerberg or any other executive haven't made a formal announcement stating that they are listening," writes All Facebook's Nick O'Neill. "While representatives of the company's communications
department have stated that the company is listening and will effectively do the right thing, no formal statement has come from Mark Zuckerberg."
As The Journal reports and PCWorld points out, "The biggest issue up for debate at Facebook HQ ... is what to do about the social network's labyrinthine privacy system that many users have found confusing ... The New York Times reported earlier this month that you need to navigate through 50 settings and more than 170 options to completely manage your privacy on Facebook."