Big Brother and the Big FB

For you Facebook users out there (especially if you have been recently annoyed by the latest roll-out in changes), check out the picture on this link. I found it hilarious!

The article that goes with it is less than hilarious. Not that it was a bad article or that I disagree with it, but it just reminds me of the negative parts of Facebook that I don't like to think about. Though I'm surprised that other people are surprised to find out that we (the Facebook users) are not customers but actually the product being sold. Really, why else would Facebook be free? Why is it likely (despite all constant rumors to the contrary) to stay free?

Because Facebook is selling access to us to advertisers. Not just access, but using our information to help those advertisers target the right people.

I don't really get all in a tizzy about that. Maybe because I don't have a lot to hide about my personal life. I don't have some nasty secret that could ruin my career. And I'm practical enough to realize that if you live your life taking advantage of all our internet and electronic shortcuts (oh, how I love online shopping!), information about you is simply going to be out there, where anyone can get a hold of it. Even if it's "private" it may very well get hacked and sold on the black market. Happened to a bunch of police officers here in Arizona just recently.

I choose to deal with that by aiming for at least some limits on privacy while not stressing about the rest. (For example, this blog is supposedly blocked from search engines, but public if you know the url. But you also won't see me posting my address or the name of my kids' school.) I know, my husband thinks I'm too lax. But then he worries that someone will target him for revenge someday (you know how angry people can get over a ticket) and hunt us all down. I happen to think that if that's the case, they'll probably find us some other way that would be much easier (like just following Terence home from work one day).

As far as Facebook goes, I am really irritated by some of the new changes. I've had to mess with my profile quite a bit to declutter my news feed from all the random posts of people I've never heard of ("friends of friends"). Ugh. But I'm still visiting Facebook so it hasn't gotten so awful that I'd jump ship. However, I'm tempted, strongly tempted to check out Google+. (You never know. I hear even more changes are being phased in later this month. "Dislike!")