Why Facebook Has Pissed Me Off

For those few of you who may not know about Facebook’s privacy issues, I had the intention of posting a link that would explain what all the fuss was about. But when I tried to find such a link on Google, I realized that there was no shortage of articles to help you get in the know. So, if you’re clueless about what I’m talking about, just type in “Facebook privacy issues” on Google. If you’re too lazy to do that, just click here.

Okay, now that you’ve read up and educated yourself, let’s get on with the show. Here’s a little background information for you: Before all of this privacy stuff started, I was already paranoid of Facebook. You’ve heard the horror stories about employers looking at potential employees’ profiles. I have my profile locked down, pretty much as private as you can get. But still I was worried. Could employers still see my profile? It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Mark Zuckerberg let companies view private profiles, for a little fee. And then this crap went and happened…

I understand that Zuckerberg is a business man who’s out to make money. And I feel that he deserves to do so. Some people are trying to get the government involved. As much as I dislike what Facebook is doing, I’m going to have to ask these people to settle down and stop. Just stop. We are not entitled to Facebook. We do not deserve the right to an account. If we do not like what is going on with Facebook, we should just delete our profiles. No one is forcing us to have an account. Facebook owes us nothing.

But still, Facebook makes me feel dirty and violated. I know, it’s silly. But to be honest, I feel like a cheap prostitute who’s being pimped out and working for free. The truth is, as reported by PCWorld, Facebook pulled an ole bait and switch. Remember when Facebook was open only to college students? I do, because that’s when I got Facebook. In those days, you were linked to others through university networks. And people who weren’t in your network couldn’t see your profile. Eventually, they opened Facebook to everyone. And I do mean everyone.

Then, there was the issue of Facebook using pictures from your photo albums for their banner ads. I guess this should have been the sign. That’s when we all should have known what was going on.

And then the latest fiasco, where anything you put in your profile — your interests, favorite movies and books and music — has to be linked to an appropriate fan page. If you don’t allow such fan pages to link to your profile, your interests are removed from your profile. Even something you say in your status updates may require that you link a fan page to your profile. At first, I accepted this. Then, I removed everything from my profile, so now it’s pretty damn bare. Unfortunately, I think I’m still linked to those pages. Oh well, live and learn…

And now, everywhere I go online, Facebook is there. Blogs now have the Facebook “Like” button. When I go to sites like CNN, I can see which of my friends has been on the site recently and who likes it. Even Facebook’s own ads tell me which of my friends like the product they’re trying to sell. If this doesn’t make you think of Big Brother, I don’t know what will.

Facebook has shown what you do not do in the new world of marketing. Every time Facebook makes a change, it is default that you will be opted-in and therefore have to opt-out. And it seems that Facebook’s privacy policy changes every day. Some people say that you should take an interest in your privacy settings and stay on top of it, but I find it hard to do so when it’s all constantly changing. Is this part of their strategy? Facebook was once a place for you to express yourself and connect with friends and family, but now it’s a place where you and everyone in your network are little more than advertisements. That’s all we are. We are the whores and Facebook is the pimp.

Supposedly, 60% of Facebook users are considering quitting the site. I’m going to go ahead and call BS on that. It won’t happen. And that’s the chief reason I will keep my profile open, because everyone else I care about will be there. However, my use has dropped significantly. I’m on the site less than I was previously.

As I said previously, I understand that Zuckerberg is a business man. I wouldn’t do what he does for free. And I know that Zuckerberg doesn’t care about users of the site, and I don’t expect him to do so. But now he’s made it painfully obvious that he doesn’t care about users at all. He’s not even trying to put on an act. Now, we know he doesn’t give a damn.

And that’s why Facebook has pissed me off.

No matter your stance, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Whether you agree or disagree, let me know how you feel.

P.S. — See that Facebook share link below this post? Wouldn’t it be ironic if you used it?

Tagged as: Facebook, privacy, social media