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Facebook Tests 'Want' Button To Hoard User Data, Save Its Stock Price
colinneagle writes with news that Facebook is beginning to roll out tests of "want" and "collect" buttons in an attempt to bring users and retailers closer together.
"The company is working with Victoria's Secret, Pottery Barn, Michael Kors, Wayfair, Neiman Marcus, Fab.com and Smith Optics. The difference between 'liking' and 'wanting' would be like discovering the holy grail of datamining. Inside Facebook said that although the 'Want' button is different than the Want plugin that developer Tom Waddington noticed in June, the company may eventually offer it as a plugin. Unsurprisingly, Facebook wants to keep people on the site as opposed to leaving to visit Pinterest. Collections will offer retailers a Pinterest-like option to engage buyers, offer users a way to collect images, while also collecting even more data about users. For example, Facebook asks, 'Why are you collecting this?' Regardless of a user's answer, the wants and collects will surely be used to deliver targeted ads. Eventually, the Collections feature could help Facebook generate more revenue."
Give me a fucking 'dislike' button already, you shitheads!
I, for one, welcome our new (?) datamining overlords.
Come on, this is making it too easy for dataming as a profession. This isn't even mining, this is being handed little golden chunks, the only thing left for facebook to do is to raise it up and gleefully say "Look what I have!"
I know a lot people are really concerned about corporations connecting your consumer/personal dots and figuring out some Deep Secrets, but go look at what google thinks you are interested in (without signing into your google account) and then sign into your google account and look again. It's not all that different - in my case anyway.
Google: I am not into reality shows, when you get around to mining this. xoxox, brian
Oh wait, they've been doing that for years. Doesn't seem to have improved the stock price, either.
When this hits I am totally going to log in to a fake account and click want on dilldo's and refried beans, nothing else
I guess it has a better chance of working at those niche retailers who mainly specialize in impulse things you don't really need.
DO NOT WANT!
Captcha: "repress"
It shows up on the blind spot of your retina when you install three plugins, noscript, ghostery and adblock. I see hardly any facebook anymore. Makes it very easy to avoid other crap sites, too.
I don't mind trading some personal information for some services, but I don't see how helping FaceBook out on this by telling them what I want to buy helps me. If they can give me discounts, then perhaps, but I don't see that mentioned.
Save its stock price? Nah, I'm pretty sure that machinery served its purpose. Now Zuckerberg just needs to sell it off to Dewey Cheatam & Howe Capital LP, reap that private equity money from the middle- and lower-tier firings, and enjoy his *clears throat* well-earned retirement.
This Want stuff is just to wring out a few remaining Dumb Fucks(tm), that their data may fund the Not-Yet-Fired for a little while more.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
Imagine for a moment, the profoundly funny and silly trends that could run from clicking "want" on simple, stark statements, like:
Privacy
Responsibility in Industry and Politics
Or even just silly stuff, "celebrities eating hotdogs"
Why anyone would care about the many ways that Facebook mistreats their data sources - ah, users - is beyond me. Unlike Google they never even bothered to pretend to be anything but money-grubbing capitalists with no problem whatsoever with Doing Evil.
From day one their modus operandi has been to push things to the point where even their most loyal users rebel, then back off just enough to quell the noise. And then to repeat, moving the bar even lower with each step.
Yeah I use Facebook, but I also am pretty picky about what information I leave on their servers. Judging by the utterly bizarre collection of ads that show up, I must be doing something right. Today they're promoting: Lord of the Rings Online; Fast and EZ Debt Reduction; Diamond Jewellery; Fitness Membership; Joint Pain Relief; and allegedly "luxury" Real estate, none of which are even remotely interesting to me. Google at least manages to place ads that I might click on.
Three Squirrels
The only winning move is not to play.
Is Facebook relevant anymore? It is starting to have that Myspace-like stink about it.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Buddha rolling in his grave
There is much potential for awesomeness here.
Zuckerberg and accomplices have known this for some time. The IPO timing and modalities were no accident at all. Now that their Ponzi-scheme is collapsing, they have some motive to slow down the collapse to be not too obvious, but that is it. This thing has no future at all as it lacks a viable business model.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
This probably is not well-known to people except those working in neuroscience/behavioral psych research, but "wanting" and "liking" are part of a drug addiction theory called incentive salience. The basic notion is that "liking" something is a momentary, pleasurable feeling of hedonism. It passes quickly, but it's powerful reinforcement that drives you to want that hedonic feeling. The "wanting" is where motivation and incentive comes into play to drive the craving for reward (be it drugs, food, whatever).
Think about it: what's the last time you ate a cheeseburger? Do you have a vivid memory of it? Probably not.
But do you want a cheeseburger? Especially one with cheese, bacon, medium rare, fries on the side... mmm...
Anyway, the theory explains why addiction persists and drug abusers fall back into old habits, even when they've been clean for years. Salient cues are too much to ignore (a needle, a bus stop they used to meet their dealer, etc). The theory works with rats getting drugs, food, sex... No reason it can't be applied to website visitors too.
1. User wants friends.
2. User collects likes.
3. User likes collections.
4. ???
5. Profit!
Me? I like to dabble in cookery, and had a hypothetical conversation with my sister concerning weed.
What I would place as a series of fake products for people to "want"?
"Stoner Joe's Finger Lickin' Cickin!"
Featuring a an "herb roasted" rotissery chicken, slathered in premium pot resin, and speckled with crushed thyme, rosemary, and lemon pepper.
And "Mary Jane's olde fashioned honey", a 50-50 mix of cannabis resin and pure honey, from bees exclusively fed on marijuana flowers. (100% organic, pesticide free!)
That kind of thing.
Put a disclaimer on the bottom saying that due to current and regressive legislation and practices by the united states of america, these fine products are currently unavailable, but please "want" them anyway, to get the word out.
LOL
What I "want" is a powerful database that can search for specialty products *in stock* at local brick and mortars. I want a pair of brown leather closed toe, closed heel sandals, brown leather, size 11.5. Who has them in stock in a store a 30km radius from me? It's Sunday and I want an 8-port gigabit hub *now* - I'm prepared to pay up to $50. Where can I go get one? In the city where I live (Vancouver, Canada) these types of searches are impossible.
Hosts entry: 127.0.0.1 facebook.com
(and since then... all their other domains that spread buttons n shit to the web)
It's difficult to use a pc that isn't my own to browse the web anymore. There's just so much CRAP loading with most of it. How do regular users put up with that adweb?
Use Ghostery
I've been suspicious ever since I saw my sister "Like" Unibet and TomWaterhouse (betting sites) and I know for a fact my sister doesn't gamble (motgage and kid, she doesn't have the cash) and when my tea totalling mate liked Johny Walker (hes also a bit of a hipster so if he did drink he'd drink some obscure brand of whiskey made by Scottish virgins that you've never heard of).
So I think that Facebook is inserting these "likes" on the behest of advertisers.
My Facebook Friend list is the same as my real friend list (I dont add any Tom, Dick or Harry that I've met somewhere, at some point in my life) so I notice when things are out of character for them.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Is there going to be a donotwant button too? (reserved for slashdot members)
Has no Like, +1, or Want button. It does have "-1", "Dislike" and "Do Not Want". If you were to post something, it would delete your post and insult you. However, it doesn't matter because it doesn't accept registrations (either gives server down errors or captchas with symbols not in unicode), so it's all academic anyway.
If that was the case, they would put dislike buttons on everything and charge page owners $$$ to remove them.
vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
Well,it's very good.I quite agree with your point of view. http://www.bestwatches4uk.com/
Look at the comparative valuations of FB cf. GOOG, AAPL or any of the other hot-button stock du jour. How much must the price of FB fall in order to bring the valuation of FB in line with other comparable stocks?
Will targeted advertising become a feedback loop and lose all cost effectiveness? If youre only going to show me products im interested in in the first place, why waste money on advertising it to me?
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
.. does that mean I'm a good target market?
Seriously, facebook users are becoming less distinguishable from two year olds by the day.
Browsers are getting do not track options when a large number of sites are being plastered with Facebook Like, G+ and other nuisance tags from "social media" are little more than tracking cookies themselves, capable of tracking someone regardless of them having an account on these services or not. I realise there may be add ons to block these links but my feeling is there should be an opt-out built into the browser. If a person chooses to opt out these links are replaced with placeholders. If the user really wants to, they can click on the placeholder and then the browser loads the real script. And otherwise the page is dark as far as these nuisance links go.
This is a mistake, if FB wants to really make some money it should restrict free posting to human users with accounts and then simply auction off a limited number of slots for companies to advertise with.
Yes,
when I see adds for sexy models in lingerie I'll probably click the want button. If that collect button works how I'm hoping it would I might just consider getting Facebook for this.
How can they possibly know I don't 'Want' the model posing from Victoria's Secret instead of the lingerie?
After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.
.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
I've been clicking on the "Want" button on the Victorias Secret page all day, but I'm referring to the models.
What happens next? Cuz so far, ... nothing.
I think maybe it's broken.
If this were Usenet, I'd killfile the lot of you.
What if all or most just decided to treat the 'want' or 'collect' button as if it were named "dislike"?
FB cannot force us to treat the button according to the text that labels it.
But too bad the masses would never know.