[Sly Fox]

As crazy as it sounds, many of us who make our living in communications are actually beginning to migrate away as the service makes changes that frankly creep us out. Here is a great article from a few days ago that spells out many of the same concerns I have ....

Facebook’s Gone Rogue; It’s Time for an Open Alternative
By Ryan Singel May 7, 2010 | 6:58 pm | Categories: Social Media



Facebook has gone rogue, drunk on founder Mark Zuckerberg’s dreams of world domination. It’s time the rest of the web ecosystem recognizes this and works to replace it with something open and distributed.

Click Here for Full Story

[LUconn]

I think it would be pretty easy for twitter to get that started. I know that's not what twitter is, but they could create a similar experience to facebook on the side and offer it to tweeters that want it.

[phoenix]

I just changed all my privacy settings (again). I don't like what Facebook is doing at ALL -- there are things that should be opt-in that they set up as opt-out. But I just remember to check my privacy settings every so often, and adjust them as needed. AND I don't really put anything there that I wouldn't want everybody knowing about anyway, so it doesn't really bother ME, but I can see why people are not happy with what they're doing.

[LUconn]

Yeah, I have everything open to everyone. I don't have anything on there that I wouldn't want everybody knowing and I really don't post status updates. I use twitter for that kind of thing as I like to trash work and bosses and what not. But I'm pretty tight on who I allow to follow me.

[mrmacphisto]

I mostly don't like the sneakiness and the smugness with which they're handling these privacy issues. When people catch onto the changes and adjust, they come up with new changes to lower everyone's privacy settings by default. How long is this going to go on?

And then they have the audacity to throw the responsibility back to the user. I'm not saying the user has no control whatsoever, but in today's society, what they're saying is similar to Verizon deciding to broadcast everyone's conversations and saying "Get rid of your phone if you don't like it."

[ALUmnus]

Information is money to them, they're just trying to keep up with Google (who seems to get a pass in all this).

[RubberMallet]

southpark had a decent episode in regards to facebook. where Stan has to beat his profile in yahtzee to actually be able to delete it.

[LUconn]

Information is money to them, they're just trying to keep up with Google (who seems to get a pass in all this).

Google got absolutely hammered about buzz

[ALUmnus]

And what was the outcome of this mystical hammering?

[LUconn]

They shored up the most publicized privacy leaks. Remember some government official had his buzz account showing all of his private contacts to everybody by default? They probably left any other ones though.

[LUconn]

http://www.joindiaspora.com/

There you go.

[NG33]

southpark had a decent episode in regards to facebook. where Stan has to beat his profile in yahtzee to actually be able to delete it.

Awesome episode. Also, the parts about chatroulette were stinkin' hilarious!

[Schfourteenteen]

southpark had a decent episode in regards to facebook. where Stan has to beat his profile in yahtzee to actually be able to delete it.

Awesome episode. Also, the parts about chatroulette were stinkin' hilarious!

+1

[RubberMallet]

southpark had a decent episode in regards to facebook. where Stan has to beat his profile in yahtzee to actually be able to delete it.

Awesome episode. Also, the parts about chatroulette were stinkin' hilarious!

i used what cartman said during that scene as an example for my boss...he was frustrated 2 salesguys didn't work out in the last 2 months....i told him that sometime you have to wade through alot of richards to find a good salesperson.

[El Scorcho]

To answer the original question, yes. I am.

I don't think I will, but I have been considering it very seriously.

[ALUmnus]

If you do decide to make the exit, supposedly it's relatively difficult to close out your account. Here's an article to help you out:

http://www.switched.com/2010/05/17/fed- ... heres-how/

[LUconn]

I see the concerns with facebook, but I don't see any benefit in completely getting rid of your account. Why not just enter minimal information and keep it alive? I've seen many instances of needing to get a hold of someone and facebook was the answer. It's pretty much replaced looking someone up in the phone book and calling them. I just don't see a downside to having a profile as long as you limit your personal info

[Sly Fox]

That's where I am at right now. But the problem is that you have to regularly watch your privacy settings because Facebook is automatically opening up your info as default without your permission. That's frustrating and concerning.

[rueful]

I think all the uproar about facebook and the latest privacy issue is complete crap. Get over it. I read an article the other day about remembering the whole News Feed thing when it first came out in 2006, and everyone complained, but today we can see its one of the vital parts of our facebook experience, and it was a good thing in the end. I dont see why everyone is so worried about what they are doing now? So I go on pandora and am recommended music based off my likes, how is that taking away my privacy? If Mark Zuckerberg showed up at my house and was like "Oh, so this is where you live, thanks, bye" then I'd feel like something was up, but as of right now, I kind of like to remember it was made for college students, not adults. Yes, its morphed into something where everyone and their mother and grandmother have one, but that doesnt mean they need to adapt to the craziness that comes with most old people.

The overall experience between younger people and older people is completely different. Things like CNN and the like havent helped, because they take stuff that people post on facebook as news. Any youth pastor who looks at the status' of their youth members compared to those of most older people can quickly see what I consider the greatest example of post-modernism, where one group takes it as fact where as the other group takes it as all relative, non-facts, but feelings.

[ALUmnus]

The thing is, they change your default settings without your permission. Sure, you can go and manually change them back to being more private, but by then, it's too late, your information has already been out there. You can go ahead and take down all your info and just have a skeleton of an account, but who's to say what you had on there before hasn't already been sold? I personally don't really have any info on there that can really profit anyone or damage me, but the way Facebook is conducting itself is very questionable, and I can see why a lot of people would be upset.

You gotta remember, to some people privacy is everything.

[rueful]

What privacy did you lose though? If you go under the info tab, never have I seen a place to enter your SS# or Credit card number, or anything like that. it has your favorite movies, favorite quotes, religious views. Most people who fill those in dont even take them seriously, unless your from an older generation and you take it like you would a test. Im picturing Christopher Walken in the census skit on SNL in the 90's, where hes like " I gotta get this right, I wanna win that car"

[LUconn]

What privacy did you lose though? If you go under the info tab, never have I seen a place to enter your SS# or Credit card number, or anything like that. it has your favorite movies, favorite quotes, religious views. Most people who fill those in dont even take them seriously, unless your from an older generation and you take it like you would a test. Im picturing Christopher Walken in the census skit on SNL in the 90's, where hes like " I gotta get this right, I wanna win that car"

There's more to privacy than SS or CC numbers or other identity theft issues. In real life you share different information with some people you treat like they're your brother vs others you treat like acquaintances you barely remember. There's a spot to enter your phone number and address which would be very helpful for someone I go to church with that is my FB friend that I really would rather some weird dude from high school not have that just got suckered into "being his own boss" with quixtar. Or sold to some obnoxious marketing agency. There's probably thousands of different anecdotes about information that I'd like some parties to have but not others. Now facebook has the right to do whatever they want. There are some privacy laws in regards to your personal info but I'll assume that they're not violating them. But, if they don't get with the program and there's a decent alternative started, they also have the right to follow the path of AOL from monopoly to bolivian.

If you really think about it, can you really see something exclusively web based thriving for another 5 years? They have such an iron grip right now, it's hard to imagine but there are endless possibilities for multiple social networks being open enough to network together with each other. I mean how many twitter users use twitter.com? I'd be surprised if it were more than 5%.

[RubberMallet]

if you put your address/phone number on facebook you are a numbnuts.

[LUconn]

I wouldnt have even known it was an option if I hadnt seen it on a few profiles

[mrmacphisto]

Bolivian?