The Virtual Social Networking Paradox

Over at Facebook the private users are up in arms about the conversion of their profiles from the next-to-the-last version to the latest "Timeline" version.  The outrage expressed in the reposting of images that "demand" the option to use the old format or to deny the Timeline format entirely is unfortunately misguided, I feel.

I have tried to point out to folks that they should not be operating with the thought that they actually have a say in how any of these social networking sites operate.   Statiing it plainly, as long as Facebook remains a user-fee-free service they can and will do whatever they want with THEIR site. YOU and I are borrowing their space for free. They can have pink pig butts squeal into the center of the screen advertising bacon-flavored toothpaste everytime you change pages and WE have no "right" to "demand" that they stop. Like politics, one should not simply complain, one should take action: vote with your browser. There ARE other social networking sites, Google Plus, Tribe, Friendster, etc. If you don't like Facebook, move to another site with a better interface and bring your firiends and family with you. THAT they will pay attention to as they are making themselves filthy rich by mining every iota of personal data that you enter into your profile pages and are selling it to advertisers. (Someone pays for the site, after all.) 

For me, I roll with the changes.  And though I know that every name, date, event and brand name that I enter into my personal profile is being scanned, analyzed, measured and turned into a commodity I accept that as the cost of being able to discover lost friends, maintain a connection with distant friends and relatives or important business and entertainment contacts.  Until the system starts calculating how long it has been since I last bought milk and automatically sends a delivery truck to my door without my knowedge or approval I consider this a fair trade.

What I do NOT do is support are games and apps unless they are from reputable and known sources.  I have been working with CDBaby for years, for instance, and I have no issue using their Facebook tool to promote and sell my vocal group's music.  Now, I can't say for certain, but it can't be a coincidence that the people on Facebook who complain most often about their accounts being hacked are also the same ones that add dozens of games and weather apps and other "useful things" to their site.  In the terms of use for these apps they clearly state that they are accessing all of your data, including your user name and password.  Well, does it really take much of a stretch of imagaination to think that either the "developer," through malice or lack of secure coding has allowed access to user information to unscrupulous employees or outside hackers.  Someone is taking this access and are cracking into people's accounts and are spamming their personal networks or are using the username and password sets to log into other sites that they users have connected to themselves in their profiles.  (Are YOU one of the people that use the same user name and passwords for most of your accounts?) 

All of that said, these dangers are part of using the internet, just like driving a car means you could get boxed in and forced to rear end a car by insurance scammers or carjacked in a parking lot.  Dangerous games, but no one said life would be easy.