Today is the end of Facebook type walled gardens
Facebook Beacon is bad... we get it. Can we stop talking about what we are against and start talking about what we are for.
We are for owning our own identity. We are for having access to our data. We are for the right to control our own user experience. We are for the right to choose. We are for user rights and respect.
Facebook is just a tool. A tool to communicate. As with all tools it should be used to serve OUR purposes. Not theirs.
The tool should act on our data, not warehouse and trap it for it's own ends. The data should be shared between all my other tools in a way that is under my complete control. My friends are my friends, not theirs. My interests are my interests, not theirs.
Now they want my purchasing history as well? The recent revelation that Facebook is collecting purchase history information for users who are opted-OUT of beacon is yet another level of privacy violation.
Purchase history is an incredibly rich source of Attention Data. In fact it is the richest source of Attention data there is. If you are willing to part with your money for something then it is obviously of significant interest to you.
The problem, though, is not with Facebook - the problem is with us. The community and bloggers. We are focused on what we don't like about Facebook instead of what we do like about an alternative to Facebook.
Like the mainstream media we fail to provide context and alternatives to the stories being told. We need to talk about a new model of social networking. A model where we have undisputed access to our friends, data and rights.
Let's promote a new model. Let's demand it. And lets remember that we vote with our feet. The Beacon advertisers have already started voting with their dollars - they are 'opting-out' of Beacon.
We are for owning our own identity. We are for having access to our data. We are for the right to control our own user experience. We are for the right to choose. We are for user rights and respect.
Facebook is just a tool. A tool to communicate. As with all tools it should be used to serve OUR purposes. Not theirs.
The tool should act on our data, not warehouse and trap it for it's own ends. The data should be shared between all my other tools in a way that is under my complete control. My friends are my friends, not theirs. My interests are my interests, not theirs.
Now they want my purchasing history as well? The recent revelation that Facebook is collecting purchase history information for users who are opted-OUT of beacon is yet another level of privacy violation.
Purchase history is an incredibly rich source of Attention Data. In fact it is the richest source of Attention data there is. If you are willing to part with your money for something then it is obviously of significant interest to you.
The problem, though, is not with Facebook - the problem is with us. The community and bloggers. We are focused on what we don't like about Facebook instead of what we do like about an alternative to Facebook.
Like the mainstream media we fail to provide context and alternatives to the stories being told. We need to talk about a new model of social networking. A model where we have undisputed access to our friends, data and rights.
Let's promote a new model. Let's demand it. And lets remember that we vote with our feet. The Beacon advertisers have already started voting with their dollars - they are 'opting-out' of Beacon.
Labels: APML, dataportability, facebook, Media 2.0, rant
2 Comments:
The point is that users need to understand their attention has value and site owners need to share their revenues with us.
If FB had said they were building a new revenue model based on attention where by you opt-in and in exchange they will act as a trusted broker of your attention to advertisers and in return will offer you some value exchange i.e points, deals, cash then no one would have said anything to FB.
Times are changing but the building blocks to make this new model work are not there just yet.
APML is a good start but there is a lot more that needs to occur. i.e iPALs.
Sam, I don't even think it's a profit-sharing thing (are they even MAKING a profit??). The simple fact is that most people have started to expect something for nothing. Most Web 2.0 sites are started without a lot of thought to business plan, profitability, etc. (note, Chris, I think you guys are on the ball here!). Then, suddenly, everyone realizes that they need to make MONEY, and don't care how they do it. I saw a piece yesterday that said FB was most likely done for after this, that people will move on to the next big (and free) thing.
I think in this case it has less to do with a potential for APML use and more with a betrayal of user trust. There were tons of ways that FB could have done this in a much less invasive way (I just profiled Mallicious, which, horrible name to the contrary, had a much better idea). The problem is that the amount of user data that they are/were able to collect with Beacon is far more valuable to advertisers.
I don't know what the solution is. I wish I did, then I'd be riding the next several-million-dollar-VC-influx wave, right? But I think that starting with a business plan, then factoring in what things users don't want shared, THEN moving to something like APML might be a refreshing chang.e
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