facebook Privacy Change - Again

[BIGUN 1,314]

It's why I d/won't have FB

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This is a guest post from a former CTO who now does tech consulting for other start-up ventures and was briefed on Facebook’s advertising strategy. The story was edited and checked for accuracy by Betabeat.

If you logged onto Facebook yesterday, perhaps you caught a link at the top of the News Feed that read: “About Ads: Ever wonder how Facebook makes money? Get the details.” The answers provided some context on the news that starting in January, Facebook will start integrating a type of ad, called “sponsored stories,” that display your friends faces next to content they have “liked” in larger-sized ads your News Feed mix. “Facebook makes its money from showing you ads,” the company told consumers yesterday and with the ramp up to its spring 2012 IPO, the social network is getting serious about that endeavor.

In what seemed like an unrelated move, in September, Facebook announced a brand new type of profile called Timeline, where your whole personal history is laid out by month-by-month, all the way back to your birth. At the time, Facebook described it to consumers as a chance to: “Share and highlight your most memorable posts, photos and life events on your timeline. This is where you can tell your story from beginning, to middle, to now.” By the end of this year all 800 million plus Facebook profiles will have been converted to this new interface.

What most users don’t know is that the new features being introduced are all centered around increasing the value of Facebook to advertisers, to the point where Facebook representatives have been selling the idea that Timeline is actually about re-conceptualizing users around their consumer preferences, or as they put it, “brands are now an essential part of people’s identities.”

The name itself is cleverly designed to conceal the fact that your profile no longer arranges information chronologically. Yes, things are laid out by year and by month. But, when it comes to what’s displayed to your social circle at any given time, other metrics, including direct payments to Facebook itself, will now influence the ranking and placement of stories. This payola will be a crucial part of the graph rank, the new metric for placement that the social network uses to determine what appears on your profile.

“Graph Rank” is a complex and non-published algorithm, but we know direct payments to Facebook and app/user popularity are important parts of the ranking. The newest thing is no longer on top. There is a rough month-by-month sort, but within the month it’s graph rank, not chronological order, that determines placement.

For advertisers and social app developers, capturing user tastes (which used to be good enough) is now secondary to knowing what users are doing right now. Your reading habits, music tastes, guilty TV pleasures, holiday gift purchases and so forth are part of stream of information from which Facebook wrings profits and a new advertising channel in and of themselves.

Disguising ads as your friends’ updates is being offered up as an antidote to the dismal click-through rates for traditional web advertising. Sponsored stories in your feed and sidebar ads based on your friends’ likes will become ubiquitous. Indeed in marketing materials, Facebook says these new premium ads are 90 percent accurate, compared to the industry average of 35 percent. “When people hear about you [the brand] from friends, they listen.”

Facebook derives its revenue from advertising–an average of $100 million a month since last January. At this point, many understand that the business model revolves around selling the mountains of personal information people post to Facebook. In the ramp up to its IPO, the company is anxious to show better revenue growth.

As the post from Facebook yesterday morning explained, sponsored stories are different from ads in that a user’s name or profile might appear alongside the ad, ”If you’ve liked that business’s page, the story about you liking the page (including your name or profile photo) may be paired with the ad your friends see.” While sponsored stories don’t include additional messaging from the sponsor, businesses pay Facebook to feature posts and activity that mention their brands. In both cases, these are only visible “to friends you’ve already shared this information with.”

How long users will tolerate this is unclear. There’s already a class-action suit pending in California against Facebook for integrating user’s pictures without their permission in advertising based on “Likes.” Many Spotify listeners and Washington Post readers are no doubt regretting listening to that one good song from that otherwise unpardonable band, or clicking on that salaciously titled article, which then appeared on the screens of everyone they know along with their smiling profile picture.
More likely, in the end, they will get teenagers to pay a monthly fee to host all of their party photos.

Of course, then the next VC-funded Facebook (just as MySpace killed Friendster, and Facebook killed MySpace, so will NextFB kill Facebook) will offer the same services and be free (Google+) and take over the "market." The cycle repeats itself.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[JerryBaumchen 1,363]

Hi Bigun,

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It's why I d/won't have FB

I have yet to see any reason why I would want to have anything to do with it.

I think it's an age thing.

JerryBaumchen

[BIGUN 1,314]

Answer Below

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Krip 2]

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Hi Bigun,

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It's why I d/won't have FB

I have yet to see any reason why I would want to have anything to do with it.

I think it's an age thing.

JerryBaumchen

Hi

+ 1 Not the least interested in the latest whiz bang stuff.

Great idea for the dude that created it. IPO, big $$$$$$$$$$.

I'm so Retro

People ask for my cell #.

Don't have one
One lady asked if I had indoor plumbing I'm still.

I'm retired have a answering machine . Nothing is that important .

when we come down from the mtn (Hill) I'm surrounded by peeps that have cell phone's. Who knows maybe in 50 yr's they will decide just like cigs

Rant over pass the cheese

R

One Jump Wonder

[mutumbo 0]

ive probably moved 15 times in my life. facebook is a very easy and convenient way to keep track of and up with all my friends from ALL OVER the world. and yeah, its also a great way to keep up with deals and specials certain businesses are running from time to time.

but thats just what facebook does for me, just my take on it

Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

[JerryBaumchen 1,363]

Hi mutumbo,

Quote

thats just what facebook does for me

Looks to me like they are going to do more for you.

And I have no problem with anyone being a part of any of these types of things; it is all about their choices, not mine.

JerryBaumchen

[mutumbo 0]

Jerry,

yeah, just trying to give you a view from someone who does use it, thats all.

Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

[DSE 5]

IMO, the author of the article reveals how lost he really is if he is not understanding the revenue model generated by FB.
My clients use it, my company uses it, and I personally use it.
Does it carry responsibilities? Sure. Just like anything else online. If you buy online with a credit card, it's more "dangerous" than being on FB.
Anyone who thinks privacy exists needs to think again. Whether you're on FB or not.
FB may indeed run its course at some point, but it is a huge revenue generator, and smart business know how to use it to reach very specific, very targeted markets.

[MikeJD 0]

I think the really interesting question around this is to what extent there are privacy 'rights' and 'wrongs' - I mean, over and above what the law says - as opposed to just currently accepted norms. Seems to me that since so many (typically younger) people have embraced social networking and are putting their whole lives online, gradually standards will change until those of us who still like to retain some privacy will be seen as odd, even suspect.

And I guess when everything is known about everyone, people will be comfortable with it because it's what they're used to - for better or worse. We're just at that awkward transitional stage right now!

[adagen 0]

Unless they've changed things very recently, there is a privacy setting that allows you to opt out of being associated with random junk ads.

Anne

[BIGUN 1,314]

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Unless they've changed things very recently, there is a privacy setting that allows you to opt out of being associated with random junk ads.

Therin lies the problem. Every time FB make a change, they modify the privacy policy and you have to go back through and opt-out... however, with this new "timeline." I don't believe there's an opt-out.

http://www.facebook.com/full_data_use_policy

Google's privacy policy on the other hand is one of "opt-in." In addition, in the event of a merger or acquisition, Google's privacy policy is transferable, not assignable.

http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/preview/

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[BIGUN 1,314]

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IMO, the author of the article reveals how lost he really is if he is not understanding the revenue model generated by FB.
My clients use it, my company uses it, and I personally use it.
Does it carry responsibilities? Sure. Just like anything else online. If you buy online with a credit card, it's more "dangerous" than being on FB.
Anyone who thinks privacy exists needs to think again. Whether you're on FB or not.
FB may indeed run its course at some point, but it is a huge revenue generator, and smart business know how to use it to reach very specific, very targeted markets.

I would argue your point about using a credit card online as being more risky than having a facebook account. Having said that, my ex uses FB for her business also (she's like a guru in sales & marketing) and I did her website which included the pass through icons for FB, Twitter, & her Company Blog. We had a long hard discussion about fb and twitter and in the end, I cannot argue with her success in the realm of target marketing, but she also acknowledges the risks and feels that "for now" the benefits outweigh the risk. And, this "timeline" has her re-thinking her position on the matter.

I'll tell you what I will find interesting is how well Mark Z. does with an IPO and a BoD. That's going to be a new experience for Mr. Bossy Pants.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Krip 2]

Face book twitter ect have their place for certain people. As a business tool for your boss. If it adds to her/your cash flow enjoy it while it lasts
In my specific situation, I still use outdoor plumbing and smoke signals.

Read my profile

R

One Jump Wonder

[DSE 5]

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I would argue your point about using a credit card online as being more risky than having a facebook account.

Every week we hear on the news about Amazon, Sony, Microsoft, Zappos, Trion, US Government, etc being hacked into and credit card information compromised.

FB doesn't store, doesn't have, and doesn't want that info. Therefore, they are less risky than using your credit card for online purchases.
FB only has what you give them.
BTW, it's false that you have to re-opt when they change security. They were nailed by Legal Frontier on this a while back. They maintain your most strict preferences when they make updates (at least they say they do, and mine have remained constant)

Curiously enough, we have a professor of Social Media who is an expert on Facebook's privacies and social impacts who is a skydiver...Mz Montana...any input on this conversation?

[BIGUN 1,314]

Quote

Quote

I would argue your point about using a credit card online as being more risky than having a facebook account.

Every week we hear on the news about Amazon, Sony, Microsoft, Zappos, Trion, US Government, etc being hacked into and credit card information compromised.

FB doesn't store, doesn't have, and doesn't want that info. Therefore, they are less risky than using your credit card for online purchases.
FB only has what you give them.
BTW, it's false that you have to re-opt when they change security. They were nailed by Legal Frontier on this a while back. They maintain your most strict preferences when they make updates (at least they say they do, and mine have remained constant)

Curiously enough, we have a professor of Social Media who is an expert on Facebook's privacies and social impacts who is a skydiver...Mz Montana...any input on this conversation?

I'm game to see what the Professor has to say.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[masterrig 1]

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Hi mutumbo,

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thats just what facebook does for me

Looks to me like they are going to do more for you.

And I have no problem with anyone being a part of any of these types of things; it is all about their choices, not mine.

JerryBaumchen

Hi Jerry!

I'm with you on that. I have a cell-phone but it stays in my pick-up. Where I live, there is no service. My wife and I use our cell-phones only when traveling. As for facebook and all those other 'social networks, I think, are an enormous waste of time. I have plenty to keep me busy and when I need to contact someone, I use the old 'land-line'. Like you, I don't 'need' all that stuff but if others do, fine.


Chuck