Live by the sword, die by the sword. Facebook prides itself for being a deeply interconnected network where links, content and ideas can go viral. That’s part of its appeal, and its pitch to advertisers.
But Facebook has found itself the victim of its own success. A user revolt is underway, as a huge number of users are updating their status to warn of a rumoured invasion of privacy by the site.
The message being endlessly reposted reads, “Facebook has agreed to allow third-party advertisers to use your photos without your permission”, and includes instructions on how to change this setting, along with instructions to “Repost to let your friends know!”
The message is indeed true. Under certain conditions, Facebook does allow advertisers to pair a users’ image with an announcement for a product. For example, if a user becomes a fan of Coca-Cola, a notification is then posted in the news feed with a picture of the user, and announcement of his newfound allegiance.
Contrary to some rumours on the site, no new policy been instituted, nor have users been recently opted in to a new ads program. Rather, the episode is simply exposing some of relatively liberal privacy policies users implicitly agree to when using Facebook.
What sparked this wave of discontent was in fact a violation of Facebook’s policies by a third-party advertiser. Last Sunday, Cheryl Smith, a business consultant, posted a curious account on her blog — her husband was on Facebook and saw an ad for “hot singles” paired with a picture of his wife, Mrs Smith.
To be sure, it was a shock to both Mr and Mrs Smith. Yet they both took it in good stride, and she blogged about it. However, what that ad had done — pairing one of the photos on Mr Smith’s network with a company he had not interacted with — was a violation of Facebook’s policies. Facebook said the ad, and the ad network that served it, have subsequently been removed from the site.
Though the ad in question may be gone, and was never sanctioned by Facebook, the episode has cast a light on users’ latent discomfort with sharing so much information online.
Users may be relatively carefree with the information they share, posting personal details and pictures, some of them compromising, for the viewing pleasure of an ever-growing audience. But having one’s likeness unexpectedly paired with a tawdry product is clearly a cause for concern, and a reminder that when posting personal information online, there are inherent risks about how it might be used.
The frenzied reposting of the warning message is a testament to just how uneasy people are with this balancing act, and how quickly they can clam up.
Also worth noting is how suddenly this message went viral. Ms Smith first reported her experience last Sunday, and the news was picked up, and dismissed by Mashable among others. But like a buried ember that sparks a raging brush fire, the meme caught a gust of wind, and by Friday was spreading across the social graph.
Facebook is now left trying to contain a raging fire in its own backyard. It began the fight this afternoon, with a blog post.
