The “Like” button dissonance
The recent change of privacy controls on Facebook and the introduction of a global “Like” button are steering a lot of discussion all over the internet. My friend Lokman has already left Facebook all together and keep hearing about “Leave Facebook Day” planned for May 21.
Many people, including those in major outlets are voicing their criticism of the erosion of privacy and introduction of the inverse Beakon. For example, the Washington Post ran a number of articles on this subject and is reporting on a bill for privacy online being drafted following this outcry, ars technica writes about complains filed against Facebook at the FTC, Huffington Post posted some visualizations of how more and more of our information is exposed to more and more people on Facebook, and the Wired has recently posted a very opinionated piece from Ryan Singer criticizing Facebook’s behavior and calling for an alternative. What I find amusing in this situation is that all these major outlets (and many others) have wholeheartedly adopted the universal “Like” feature and other Facebook gadgets. When you come to read their articles, you are welcomed by familiar faces of your friends through some Facebook social feature.
To me it creates a dissonance.
I realize that in many cases these are journalists reporting on a piece of technology-related news and I realize that the opinions of the columnists belong to them and not necessarily to the news outlet. I also realize that the news outlets are involved in financial survival battle and using Facebook advertising and social platform may be an opportunity. I even appreciate the fact these discussions are taking place and that the mainstream media, the blogosphere, and even Facebook itself are hosting this debate. Nevertheless, when I see that Ryan Singer’s super critical piece has two “Like” buttons and almost 3500 likes on Facebook, I understand why over at Facebook they feel so confident and comfortable messing with the privacy of their users.
And what do you think?
It’s odd but, despite being aware of the like button, I’ve yet to see an actual like button on any of the websites I read, perhaps just US news sites and blogs being the fastest to take up the new opportunity, where I don’t read any of those you mentioned.
I read another criticism article on Wired yesterday but didn’t notice a like button :)
One possible explanation for the dissonance is that the two seemingly-conflicting stances of these websites can serve the same purpose. Ultimately, most of those major outlets you mention want to use a platform like Facebook Likes to their advantage, but it will only truly work if Facebook responds to pressure and Facebook users don’t desert in droves.
At the personal level, May 21st, which I also didn’t hear about til now, sounds tempting!
I think I’ve read somewhere that 50 out of the 100 most visited sites have added the new “Like” button. But I would not be surprised that more that 50 of the top 100 are actually US sites.
I think you explanation makes sense and there is probably even more to this (those outlets have to maintain journalistic integrity as well). But I wonder if you really think people will desert Facebook in droves without a viable alternative.
And please let me know if you choose to act on May 21st :)
I missed everything again. What’s the global “like” button? and what are the changes in privacy control? Where can I read about this?
Try to check out some of the links in the post. You will see that all those websites have a way of “liking” an article on Facebook right there on their website. As to privacy, check out what your info page on Facebook look like now. Many thing have became public + they share your public information with partner websites (so that those can personlize your experience and the ads). The Wired piece I think summarizes everything in the best way.