Is more grief heading Facebook’s way?
Last week, Facebook announced changes to its amazingly popular social networking platform in response to flak it has been receiving from privacy and consumer advocates.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, outlined a number of significant changes which he believes will quell concerns users may have regarding the privacy of their personal data. On the surface, the changes appear to be what people have been clamoring for. But beyond that, Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore isn’t convinced, especially when Facebook’s long term strategy comes into play.
Global Connections
In his most recent weekly column for CNN.com, Cashmore noted that Zuckerberg is still fixated on sharing, writing in The Washington Post, “If people share more, the world will become more open and connected. And a world that’s more open and connected is a better world.” Obviously, that’s how Zuckerberg views things, but not everyone is in agreement with his thinking. Especially when it comes to voluntarily sharing their knowledge.
Cashmore noted that the changes being released by Facebook over the next few weeks will allow users to enjoy greater privacy. However, making your “friend’s list” private isn’t done automatically, you’ll still have to opt for that setting. And, Cashmore noted that Facebook’s recommended privacy settings still encourage users to share their photos, relationships and updates with nearly 500 million other users.
Location Basing
Clearly, Facebook benefits from people opening up their information to global perusal. Twitter, as Cashmore noted, has a far greater advantage when it comes to sharing, with users providing real time updates and related photographs which anyone can view. That is something Facebook lacks and is probably the reason why Zuckerberg is pushing open access even as users push back.
One feature soon to be released by Facebook is location basing. At the moment, Twitter and FourSquare are among the leaders of this popular option, something Facebook plans to roll out in the near future. But, given the level of distrust some have toward Facebook, that action could present much more of a challenge for Facebook than its current woes.
Team Diaspora
Perhaps the biggest challenge for Facebook will be fending off Diaspora, an all new social networking platform set to launch in September. Its team of four New York University student developers have promised privacy and transparency and have raised more than $200,000 for their endeavor.
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