The Last Straw for Facebook?

I remember the good old days.

You know, the days when you didn’t have to worry about what was written on your wall, how many “friends” you had, what your relationship status was, what was reported on the news feed and what photos your friends decided to tag with your name, among other things.

However, those days are long gone. We’re officially the Facebook generation, and it appears there’s nothing we can do about it.

I don’t spend all that much time on Facebook. In fact, I’m a pretty passive user. I don’t have any of the silly applications on my page, and I usually don’t send out any friend requests or messages, usually choosing instead to wait until someone contacts me.

But I’m on Facebook. Mostly, I guess, because everyone else is.

I’m starting to think it might be time to let go, however. Here’s why:

If you remember, a little over a year ago, we were introduced to the News Feed. After an initial privacy-related uproar, everyone seemed to accept the new elements (with the privacy features that were subsequently added to appease the masses) and move on with their lives.

But now I’m afraid Mr. Zuckerberg might have gone a bit too far.

Last week, our favorite 23-year-old CEO introduced some shiny new features to the to the social networking site that bring new meaning to the word “creepy.”

The first new feature is the so-called “Facebook Social Ad.” According to the “business solutions” section of the Facebook website:

“Facebook Social Ads allow your businesses to become part of people’s daily conversations. Ads can be displayed in the left hand Ad Space — visible to users as they browse Facebook to connect with their friends — as well as in the context of News Feed — attached to relevant social stories. The social stories, such as a friend’s becoming a fan of your Facebook Page or a friend’s taking an action on your website, make your ad more interesting and more relevant. Social Ads are placed in highly visible parts of the site without interrupting the user experience on Facebook.”

It’s a bit of a convoluted explanation, but basically it comes down to this: Facebook is going to allow companies (such as Blockbuster and Coca-Cola) to create their own Facebook pages (Yay! I can be friends with Nike!) and then will, somehow, using your product preferences, create small advertisements for the products you like to use (starring your profile picture!) that will show up on your friends’ news feeds.

That’s right, you are going to promote products for Corporate America. Or at least Facebook thinks you will.

But this begs the question: how is Facebook going to get its users to do this? Wouldn’t we have to go out of our way to tell Facebook what products we are buying and using before our preferences could actually be broadcast to our friends?

Well, no. That’s where the “creepy” part comes in. They’ve also instituted “Facebook Beacon,” which the site describes in this way:

“Facebook Beacon enables your brand or business to gain access to viral distribution within Facebook. Stories of a user’s engagement with your site may be displayed in his or her profile and in News Feed. These stories will act as a word-of-mouth promotion for your business and may be seen by friends who are also likely to be interested in your product.”

In other words, if you buy something online, you will be asked at the end of the transaction if you want to send your purchase information to Facebook for publication. While one can opt-out of sending the information, isn’t the fact that this so-called “beacon” can “watch” our purchases just a bit much?

I mean, what happens if you forget to click the opt-out button? Apparently, every single one of your friends gets to find out you rented Gigli or bought The Kama Sutra. What fun.

Interestingly enough, the new features (or at least the advertising portion) might be in violation of New York law. According to a blog entry written by Minnesota Law professor William McGeveran, the Social Ads could be illegal under a statute that states that “any person whose name, portrait, picture or voice is used within this state for advertising purposes or for the purposes of trade without the written consent first obtained” can sue for damages.

Although I realize that, at least to a certain extent, Facebook needs to be advertiser-supported, I think this might just cross the line.

Will this be the final privacy straw for Facebook? Only time will tell.

Eric Finkelstein ’06 is a former Sun managing editor and is currently a second-year student in the Law School. He can be contacted at efinkelstein@cornellsun.com [1]. Saturdays Excepted appears alternate Mondays.