Eye on Winer

Facebook’s new feature is a little creepy, but it doesn’t really bother me (from a Facebook perspective). Here’s why: first, I would imagine that the problem is easily solved by logging out of Facebook when you’re done using it. Second, the solution is easier than people think: stop shopping at places that do this. Overstock could easily ASK YOU before they send the info to Facebook, they don’t. That’s their problem, not Facebook’s.

Dave tried to shoehorn this issue into another “I want my data” pitch, which is fine, but I think it misses the point. His second try gets to the real issue a little better, and it would be interesting to add a “comment” feature, but I don’t think that would really solve this problem.

The solution, if you think this is a problem, is to take it up with Overstock, the only company that really stands to LOSE money here. Short of a mass exodus from Facebook, this isn’t really going to hurt them. If, on the other hand, a fair number of regular Overstock customers write letters saying “I’m not going to shop with you again until this Facebook thing goes away”, that could have some impact.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 24th, 2007 at 10:25 pm and is filed under Facebook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.