People all over the web are taking the new year as an excuse to make predictions, resolutions and recaps. So I’m going to throw my hat in the ring, bust out my crystal ball and tell you about the future.
IN THE YEAR 2011: A Prediction
Facebook will do SOMETHING that will cause people to be up in arms over PRIVACY.
From where did this vision come to me?
I looked into my crystal ball and two words floated across my mind’s eye:
In Facebook’s defense, it has been an exceptionally powerful force in the world. With 500 million users, no one debates the longevity of Facebook or its importance as a communication platform. The innovations that Facebook has pioneered are remarkable. The social graph as a concept is tremendous on so many levels. No one really debates technologically what Facebook does or is capable of doing. Where the problems occur is in two simple words: “opt-out.”
Opt-out vs Opt-in
You may have heard this before as the whole opt-in vs opt-out discussion is nothing new.
Facebook opened it’s doors to the free non-.edu-email-address-having world on September 26, 2006.
Since then, what originally felt like a private network of friends and family sharing information has gradually shifted–like it or not–into a more public forum where members are encouraged and defaulted to a less private social networking experience. Unlike Twitter which was built upon the pillars of public conversation, Facebook started with a sense of privacy. Therefore whenever privacy feels violated, the users are outraged as their expectations have not been met.
What is interesting is that, what has gotten Facebook into trouble along the way has often been not a failure in programming, but the result of decision making on behalf of the users. Facebook has rolled out some incredible features. However, most of those announcements are overshadowed by the impending privacy concerns that could have ultimately been avoided by choosing opt-in over opt-out.
When Facebook released the Instant Personalization feature, it was turned on by default, something that caused a tremendous amount of commotion. The reason is that Facebook decided FOR its users that this is something they should have because it’s great. Well in all honesty, it is pretty great but I, and most others, don’t believe that it is Facebook’s right to determine that my information will now all of a sudden be shared with partner sites. So now, in order for a user to remove that feature, they must manually opt-out.
My prediction for 2011 is based almost exclusively upon the past. If historical trends are any indication, then Facebook will do something questionable regarding our privacy in 2011.
Will 2011 be different?
Maybe the constant stumbles and bad press have gotten the message through to Facebook. The new privacy settings have been simplified, and the most recent releases of Messages and Places were both opt-in.
Each new feature Facebook releases seems to become widely adopted and at some point embraced. So knowing that, all Facebook really has to do is change the course of HOW they release these new features to avoid a PR nightmare. Sure it will take longer for everyone to opt-in, but then again, aren’t we all choosing to use Facebook in the first place? If Facebook grew by people opting into a service that others are using, wouldn’t they do the same for new features? People will be much more likely and comfortable to SHARE when its on their terms.
Did I read my mind’s eye incorrectly?
Did it actually say…
