Facebook's 'open graph' platform gets flak
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Not everybody likes Facebook's new universal "Like" button.
The so-called "open graph" platform that the social networking site launched last week gathers data about Facebook users and their preferences when they're on websites that participate in the new feature.
One critic who particularly doesn't like this feature is U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. He has asked the Federal Trade Commission to establish guidelines for how social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and others can share such information. He blasted Facebook for selling its users' private information to marketing companies.
In his letter to the FTC, Mr. Schumer wrote that Facebook's changes "have limited the ability of users to control the information they share and keep private. ... Currently, there is little guidance on what social networking sites can and cannot do and how disclosure is provided."
But some don't see government regulation as the solution. As a reader, Thomas of Clairton put it in a e-mail: "I don't think our government should step in and make guidelines. People need to held responsible for their actions. ... Buyer beware."
Facebook users for some time have been able to hit a Facebook "like" button to tell everyone in their friend network about a song, band, book, movie, product -- or anything they enjoy and want to share.
Now with the new feature they don't even have to be on Facebook to do that. Facebook members can find a Facebook "like" button on partner sites, and that information will post on their Facebook update automatically. That information in turn can go to third parties, such as advertisers trying to create targeted ads.
Pandora, the Internet music service, is one of the initial partner sites that has signed on to this feature. Here's how it works: If you create a Pandora playlist based on your favorite bands, that information could be shared with concert sites that will inform you when they're coming to town. And information gathered from other music sites about your musical tastes could be automatically incorporated into your Pandora playlists.
First Published April 27, 2010 12:00 am
