Facebook’s Under Media Backlash with New Automatic Sharing Feature
Facebook’s newest feature, “Frictionless sharing,” or the ability for the website to passively share all that you do, is garnering much controversy.
Although the latest part of Facebook has been around for nearly two months now, it seems many users have chosen recent days to express their dissatisfaction or contentment with the addition.
Facebook’s most recent supplement is called Open Graph, and the idea behind it is simple: everything a user does regarding a specific kind of media is shared to other users with the application. For example, if one were to use the Washington Post’s social reader application, it would become public knowledge every time an article is read.
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For many users, the passive sharing of musical choices, articles, and every other bit of media is just too much.
CNet News’ Molly Wood started the backlash, calling Open Graph “really annoying in practice” because when a Facebook user enables social applications, it seems personal sharing and frictionless sharing are indistinguishable.
Wood’s article, aptly titled “How Facebook is Ruining Sharing,” set off a firestorm of commentary about the new system. Many websites, like Techmeme, had a variety of pieces slamming Facebook for allowing third-party applications to disrupt their social media experience.
In contrast was Rackspace’s Robert Scoble, who wrote that he is, “’All in, and very intrigued with this new world.” While there could certainly be a violation of what others consider private, Scoble claims Facebook is trying to make sure “everything a user cares about will be streaming down the screen.”
To properly accomplish that, the social media giant would need a smorgasbord of information about the user, extending far beyond the user’s likes and dislikes to personal preference in all media.
This way, Facebook could tailor advertisements, timelines, and even individual stories to the user.
Moreover, if users do not want a website accessing so much about their personal character, they could easily adjust the privacy settings, uninstall the apps, or simply delete the Facebook account.
Several people have done just that.
However, do not expect the dissatisfaction with Mark Zuckerberg’s innovation to go anywhere. He fully endorses it, and in fact, he uses it himself. He even just got Jawbone’s Up wristband, which helps a person live healthily by tracking their movement.
“I can’t wait until I can sync this data directly to my timeline,” said Facebook CEO Zuckerberg.
Thus, it seems like Open Graph and frictionless sharing is here to stay.
