It looks like Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has shot himself in the foot with his clumsy comments regarding social-networking privacy. He should have talked to his mom first. Do you think the 25-year old Harvard graduate should be let off the hook?He only runs the most-popular social networking site on the internet. Nevertheless, this is exactly why everyone and anyone who uses Facebook and is concerned about their privacy, should question Mark Zuckerberg's business ethics.
Facebook started charging, and the price of your membership is your privacy. With pressure from other social-working services such as Twitter and huge internet search engines such as Google and Bing wanting to incorporate the infinite amount of user-generated content into their search results; Facebook is trying to keep up by making user content viewable by a wider audience. Okay for adults? If we make the choice. For kids, not at all.
In essence, Facebook users will be, by default, broadcasting all of their content and personal information over the internet unless they choose to figure out the privacy settings. According to Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt in an article on Portfolio.com , Facebook recommends making your posts viewable by the public because such sharing of information is consistent with “the way the world is moving.” This quote can be viewed as the backbone of Zuckerberg's viewpoint as well.
This article from Newsfactor.com highlights some of Zuckerberg's arguments wherein he stated that “online sharing” has overshadowed the public's concern for privacy. Professors from both the University of Wisconsin and Stanford University point out the invalidity of Zuckerberg's comments:
Mark Zuckerberg: “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people”.
Excuse me. Hello! Did he ask you what you thought? Did he ask me? No, he certainly didn't. He has my address and email. He could of contacted us both to ask, yet he didn't. What "people" Mark are you referring to? All those he didn't ask?!
Ryan Calo, Stanford University:
“The picture is clearly more nuanced than Mr. Zuckerberg's comments would suggest.”
“I've seen several recent studies [...] suggesting that people continue to value their privacy and are even willing to pay a premium for better privacy.”
Michael Zimmer, University of Wisconsin:
“That's the world he wants, so he makes statements to make it seem as if it is true.”
“Social-network sites need users to share information, and any attempts to limit that sharing is contrary to SNS business models.”
“Tell people that no one cares about privacy anymore, and then more people will think it's OK to share their information.”
In addition to Zuckerberg's invalid arguments that social-networking privacy is no longer the social norm, Zuckerberg goes on to compare social networking to blogs by pointing out the fact that more and more people are using blogs to connect with people and share information. Of course, we all know that Blogs and Social-Networking Sites are two totally different “spheres”, as Michael Zimmer puts it.
I have to agree with the professors here. Honestly, it's pretty scary to think that the CEO of a network which more than 300 million people use every day, considers “connecting people” more important and more in demand than privacy.
I also think Mark needs to talk to his mom. I don’t believe, but please correct me if I’m wrong, that Mark addressed the children that use Facebook. I think Mark should have asked his mother what she thought about:
1. How Facebook's privacy changes effect children: exposing them, putting their privacy and well being at risk.
2. The message Facebook is sending to parents about their kids:
a. “we don’t want your kids here” (you're supposed to be 13 or older to be a member.)
b. we really don’t give a darn if strangers have access to information about your child. It's not our problem.
My mom is in her 70’s and I still ask her for advice on certain subjects. Mark doesn’t yet have the perspective to know what it’s like to be a parent and to care about the safety and well-being of your child more than anything in the world. He should have talked to his mother. If he explained to his mom what Facebook’s new privacy settings meant to children, she likely would have said:
“Mark, I didn’t allow you to go to school with your first name, last name, phone number and address on your backpack, nor stamped on your forehead. I certainly didn’t allow you to pass out your personal photos on the street corner to anyone that walked by, telling them where to find you. Sweetie, don’t do that to the kids on your site. It’s not a good thing.”
Mom, then would have paused and reflected on the fact that Mark created Facebook for the older crowd. She’d realize her son had to have had the best of intentions and it really isn’t his fault if parents allow their kids to go on these sites after all. “Parents should know better Mark”, she’d likely say.
Regardless, Mark is an operator of a website, just like I am at Yoursphere.com. He’s continually allowed children to join Facebook--children who rightfully should not be on the site because they’re not old enough. It is our mutual obligation as website operators to respect the privacy of our members, to make privacy protection a priority, and to attain parental consent for our children to become members.
The shadow of concern extends further. Upon reading what a Facebook employee had to say about the company's use of member info didn't help either. In the article from Newsfactor.com, the employee outlines how Facebook tracks every single thing you do on the site. This gives us further reason to pause and ponder why they continue to allow under-age children to maintain profiles. The employee also talks about how certain employees who abused their authority by manipulating information on user profiles were fired for doing so.
Once again, it's scary (but not that shocking) to hear from an actual Facebook employee that this kind of stuff is going on in such a highly-renowned company. Unfortunately, many of us use Facebook for business purposes as it has its 300 million-user base as a means to connect and communicate with business followers and associates. As adults, if you can accept this, then you’re a consenting adult. If it’s your child you’re thinking about, contact Facebook to complain.
How? I’ve found Facebook to be a bit insufficient as I haven't found any direct way to contact them, i.e. over the phone, email, etc. The only thing I can suggest is filing a complaint through the Better Business Bureau at http://www.bbb.org/us/. Let me know if you know of an easier way.
Jan
21
