Your Ex-CoWorkers Will Kill Facebook

Random BedHead Ed writes "Cory Doctorow writes about the downside of social networking on the Information Week site, with a focus on Facebook. While he starts with some minor but insightful quibbles, he quickly moves to a critique of the core of social networking: 'Imagine how creepy it would be to wander into a co-worker's cubicle and discover the wall covered with tiny photos of everyone in the office, ranked by 'friend' and 'foe,' with the top eight friends elevated to a small shrine decorated with Post-It roses and hearts.' Do you really want to add your boss and coworkers to your friends list? (And more to the point, do you really have a choice?)"

Comments

Facebook will Adapt

[QuantumFTL]

The people who run Facebook aren't stupid - there's so much money involved here that I am sure they will find a solution to this. As for me, I'd just block my old co-workers when I leave, unless I strongly trust them on a personal level.

Re:Facebook will Adapt

[cmacb]

The people who run Facebook aren't stupid - there's so much money involved here that I am sure they will find a solution to this.

You mean the same way the smart people at Microsoft have dealt with viruses, spyware, adware, and so on?

The problem is not with the people at Facebook, the problem is with the users of Facebook, who may not be stupid either, but they are most likely ignorant of how to build a web page, run a blog, mailing lists an so on.

Facebook and the like automate for the "average" user all the Internet goodies that us bleeding edgers have been playing with for years. There is nothing in Facebook, Myspace or Orkut that I couldn't have done with my own web page, blog, scripts, etc. as far back as the mid-90s. They've just packaged it and put a name on it (and probably filed patents on it for all I know) for "the masses".

If like most users of Windows, Facebook users just complain about security issues and never "vote with their feet" there will be no reason for those not-stupid people at Facebook to improve things. In fact, since ignoring security and privacy can have a beneficial impact for advertisers (again, assuming users don't see fit to walk) there will nothing but PR campaigns to reassure users while at the same time doing little or nothing to actually solve the problem.

The issue is not how smart they are, but how much you trust them. Personally from what I've read about them so far, my answer is: "Not very much".

My response was to cancel my original account before I had populated it with very much information and open a new account with a fake name and nothing of interest to the company or its advertisers. I've yet to hear of a great number of other people doing the same, although I suspect a lot of people who have got a clue will just avoid using it until that is the only way to communicate with their grandchildren (if it gets to that point).

Re:Facebook will Adapt

[GrumblyStuff]

When they let users differentiate friends from coworkers, casual acquaintances, and 'these people I know from years ago who found my profile', well, that'll be for the better.

People are stupid?

[Kintanon]

How many people thought about this 12 years ago and have maintained separate online identities for Work and Recreation?
I did.

Easy solution

[fotbr]

Hide all your data. Add only the friends you want to be able to see your facebook page.

Or just not use Facebook in the first place.

uh, dont use it?

[192939495969798999]

Maybe just don't use it. What is your company going to do, fire you for not wasting work time creating a virtual soap opera?

Social Networking Sites in General

[CFTM]

It's beyond me why people are so quick to spill their most personal secrets on a social networking site; it just seems to me that people have no idea that anything that they say, type or post is often available for the world to see. Sorry but I don't like that kind of invasion of privacy and I never have...I can remember being 13 years, being on AOL and being wary to give any personal information out that I would want to be in public domain, but I seem to be very alone in this idea in my peer group (26 now).

Heck, I've even had people I used to work attempt to add me to their friends list and I rejected them. Then again I'm one of those people who only accepts invitations from people I know in the flesh, don't allow myself to be searched for and never post anything on the profile anyways.

Re:Social Networking Sites in General

[DoofusOfDeath]

It's beyond me why people are so quick to spill their most personal secrets on a social networking site;

Probably the same reason we pick our noses in our cars, despite everyone being able to see us. It feels more private and anonymous than it really is.

John Dvorak, is that you?

[mcmonkey]

Do you really want to add your boss and coworkers to your friends list?

That's like saying, you really want to eat? Yes? Here's some sulfur. Some people you work with might actually be friends. Some are just coworkers.

(And more to the point, do you really have a choice?)

Yes.

You might say, well if I'm friendly outside of work with one coworker and add that one person to a friends list, but then that person adds every one in the office, including the big boss, to his/her list, can't those people then link back to my page?

Well, yeah, welcome to society. This is not news. This is not technology related. Folks interact. Something you share with one person may in turn be shared by that person with others. It's called discretion, get some.

Re:Madness? THIS IS LINKEDIN!

[nuzak]

LinkedIn doesn't do ranking, and it certainly doesn't let you throw random goofy nonsense into your profile. Most peoples facebook connections look like a merge of the user's local area of the org chart of every company they've worked at.

If I ever go onto facebook, I don't think I'd go "ranking" my friends. Talk about an unfeature.

Automatic De-list

[LionKimbro]

It's socially awkward to refuse to add someone to your friends list -- but removing someone from your friend-list is practically a declaration of war.

So, these services should just automatically de-list people after a year or two, unless you consciously refresh them.

Done.

Re:this is old news...

[MC Negro]

Jesus Christ, dude. Would you knock it off with the faux-Onion link whoring? The first couple were alright, but it's just getting lame now. We get it - you've got an Onion-style satire site with a tech slant. Please quit spamming every article with disguised links to your site - it confuses trigger-happy moderators into thinking your posting something, you know, relevant or informative.

Mods - the parent post is just a link to his own satire site. His post is sitting at +5 Interesting right now and doesn't address the issue raised in the original article in any way whatsoever. Please don't reward affiliate linkwhoring with Interesting or Insightful mods.