Time to Ditch Facebook?
The recent reports that Facebook rigged its own IPO are just the latest in a litany that collectively set my spidey senses on edge. I associate with no other company that is simultaneously so slippery and opaque, but Facebook has managed to create a quasi-public space. I use it to contact people I can't find otherwise (it's super handy for foreign breweries), stay in touch with friends--especially out-of-towners--and as a shingle for people to find me. I'd lose a lot by cutting Facebook loose, and so I just whistle past the graveyard, hoping it will all work out in the end.
If this describes your relationship to the company, I recommend this fantastic indictment by the New Yorker's Steve Coll.
Anyone else out there thinking of abandoning ship?
If this describes your relationship to the company, I recommend this fantastic indictment by the New Yorker's Steve Coll.
Zuckerberg’s business model requires the trust and loyalty of his users so that he can make money from their participation, yet he must simultaneously stretch that trust by driving the site to maximize profits, including by selling users’ personal information. The I.P.O. last week will exacerbate this tension: Facebook’s huge valuation now puts pressure on the company’s strategists to increase its revenue-per-user. That means more ads, more data mining, and more creative thinking about new ways to commercialize the personal, cultural, political, and even revolutionary activity of users.The thing is, not only has Zuckerberg not earned our trust, he's actively undermined it. If Facebook weren't so valuable, we'd all ditch it in a heartbeat. There's a ratio of useful:creepy with the site, and it's always been weighted on the "useful" side. I'm wondering, with this IPO, has "creepy" overtaken useful?
Anyone else out there thinking of abandoning ship?