Dec 10th, 2007
Dec 10th, 2007
As a follow-up to our earlier post about Facebook going commercial, we’d like to report that Facebook users reacted unfavorably the social networking site’s Beacon tracking program. Initially, Beacon tracked Facebook users’ purchases on various sites as long as they did not opt out. Users had to opt out site-by-site, and could not opt out of the service with just one click. Many people were surprised and frustrated to find that their purchases were being tracked, and opposition to the service bubbled to the surface. Facebook users did not reject the Beacon tracking service wholesale, but they did successfully pressure Facebook’s chiefs to modify Beacon’s opt-out policy. Now, users must opt in to the service.
Though Facebook faced a massive user uprising in relation to Beacon, it has survived similar protests in the past. Facebook users are, for the most part, not quibbling with the service itself, only that it was rolled out quietly, and it was initially difficult to opt out.
However, this conflict has garnered an unprecedented amount of mainstream media coverage; in addition, many advertisers, including Coca-Cola, are backing off of participating in the service.
Is the Facebook generation getting jittery about privacy concerns? We don’t think so. Rather, the Beacon fight was about user control — in this case, the ability to easily opt out of a service. For every unabashed Internet exhibitionist, there is someone who is a little more reserved about sharing information online – and the Beacon controversy reveals that it is important for Facebook to cater equally to both groups.
