Facebook has gone and done it again. Yet another round of changes has sparked a wave of revulsion that hasn’t been seen since, well, the last time Mark Zuckerberg altered the way you and your information are used by the massively popular social network. To an increasing number of people who think about the Internet, the harmless-sounding notion of the social graph has become little more than a trojan horse that will put all our personal data at risk.
On a personal level, I find it difficult to get terribly worked up about Facebook, and the constant tweaking of various parts of its user interface, privacy settings and so forth no longer perturbs me the way it once did. I don’t use it that often and, when I do, I operate with the understanding that having any semblance of privacy is just wishful thinking, if not downright delusion. Nevertheless, there’s been enough outcry that I think it helps to create a taxonomy. Herewith, four varieties of Facebook revolt.
The Bolters.
Don’t like what Facebook has become? Find it less useful, more annoying? Then leave—quickly. That’s the philosophy of a growing legion of Facebook users. One of the high-profile bolters was Engadget-founder and gdgt proprietor Peter Rojas, who announced via Twitter, “Just deactivated my Facebook account.” He quickly followed with an explanation. “Reasons why: 1. Tired of not having real control over what I’m sharing. 2. I prefer Twitter (and gdgt) for conversations. 3. I’m trendy.” There.
The Pragmatists.
Jason Perlow isn’t quitting Facebook, but he is reducing his once buzzing hive of personal information sharing to little more than a stub. It’s a sort of wait-and-see approach that makes a lot of sense for many. Many of us want a presence on Facebook for a lot of different reasons: to understand trends in digital communication, to network, to keep up with relatives, to spy on enemies. But we also don’t often feel the need to share, or, if we do share, we want to do it with a select few. For those Facebook users, there is a solution. Perlow has assembled what he’s calling “An Advanced User Guide to Social Networking Privacy.” Set aside a day or so and put it into action.
Conspiracy Theorists.
Perhaps the label sells short the most intensely skeptical of Facebook’s antagonists, but you can be the judge. Here’s how InfoWorld blogger Robert X. Cringely described the the recent changes: “Facebook just made a play to take over the entire web–or at least the parts of it that get the most traffic.” Cringely eloquently takes down Zuckerberg & Co. for how difficult they make it to opt out of its information scheme. Similarly, he’s wary of how Facebook will use all the information is collects.
Facebook isn’t collecting and cataloging your consumer preferences out of the good of its heart. Clearly it’s planning to deliver targeted advertising based on my Likes; before long, my browser will be chock-full of ads for Bay City Roller reunion tours and Hello Kitty undergarments. The question is, what else will this information be used for, and by whom? Even if today Facebook aggregates and anonymizes this information, there’s no guarantee they won’t change their minds tomorrow and build nifty little profiles of all Facebook users, down to their favorite breakfast cereals and the deodorant they use.
Off-the-Graphers.
The best representative I know this school of thinking—that Facebook is best experienced by not experiencing it all—is Breaking Media COO David Minkin, who’s never joined Facebook and, presumably, never will. Here’s his 7-pronged explanation for why Zuckerberg will never have the chance to get his greasy little fingers on Minkin’s data.
- People say it’s great for sharing photos. I think it sucks. I love Flickr. All hail Flickr.
- I’m just not nosy enough to be on Facebook. Do I care what that kid I went to 3rd grade with whose name I barely remember is doing? No. Not at all.
- I think Facebook is like some weird walled-off internet microcosm. It’s becoming like AOL back in the day when my parents thought AOL was synonymous with the internet. I don’t want FB being the master of my online experience.
- I’m not exactly off the grid, but at least when FB morphs into Skynet it’ll be harder for the cyborgs to track me down.
- My dad is on Facebook.
- Now that FB has existed for a few years my friends who were early adopters are starting to abandon it or close their accounts. If there was ever any good incentive for me to join—that my friends were using it—that’s basically not true anymore.
- I’ll sign up if Zuckerberg pays me $1 million.
