Hacker News Reader

Comment by lkozma | Hacker News Reader

If the data is indeed valid, it might have less to do with the privacy concerns and the ads, I don't think mainstream users care about either that much. The site is designed such as to exploit some of the weaknesses of people, such as the fear of missing out or the compulsive hoarding (of friends).. As such, many users might feel addicted to it, but at the same time feel miserable for wasting time on it. That might show up on the survey as a vague negative feeling. Kindly argue why I am wrong before downvoting, please.

View on HN

I think users have real concerns about privacy - but not in the way that geeks tend to believe. The problem with Facebook in its current state is that it has no consistency, and is often a non-deterministic system.

To be more specific: what the hell makes it onto my news feed, and how? If I click this button, will it be broadcast to the world? I (and a few friends) were concerned when their use of the "Find a Friend" feature was openly touted on Facebook on my feed (e.g. "Mike found Bob through Friend Finder!") - where no notice was given.

People realize that whatever they post on their status, Walls, etc, are essentially public knowledge. But they do not expect simple clicks to be broadcast to the world (potential e.g., "Mike viewed Jane's profile 20 times this week!")... and while we'd like to think Facebook is smart enough to tiptoe around these use cases, evidence suggests they are not.

Agree with this point. It is the most visible among my friends that are teachers. They are incredibly scared that a student might somehow see something about them that the student's parents might not be too happy about. It's enough that a friend uploads and tags an old college picture where the teacher does a keg stand and somehow that picture ends up in a students feed.

Where Twitter is public by nature, Facebook is really inconsistent and doesn't give a clear message.

I agree with you — that's dangerous ground for them. One nitpicky thing, though: all the ads I saw for Friend Finder only mentioned that the person had used it, not that they found a particular other person through it. That's a little more palatable.

While the site is inherently predatory, and while a lot of the problem of facebook comes from those problems, outside of the teen bracket, persons are very much concerned with privacy issues, especially where their employment is concerned. That said, the most visible activity of facebook is the adds, and it does have a history of changing the site format.

Consumer opinion isn't often about root causes, but the most visible issues.

Indeed, Facebook's survival relies on user addiction and it's the reason I'm wary of using social networks.

I disagree with the idea that the average person is unconcerned with privacy. Only celebrities and up-and-coming rock stars want to share everything.

The average person might not know much about how privacy leaks happen and they might be willing to assume this or that thing they do is private, even without any evidence. But the average person is mortified at the prospect of their private business going out to the world at large. "The Internet" is a bugaboo to many, many people with privacy violation being a part of that bugaboo. This same dark, nameless fear is starting to rub-off on Facebook.

That said, I would agree that the other compulsive aspects of Facebook you mention probably also are factors. And the two factors work together rather than being dichotomies. A person may feel a need to have "friends" but simultaneous fear of sharing their information given the possibilities that it could go "anywhere".

Twenty years or more, I saw a Sci-Fi which described a future in which people had to pay not to be connected to the net.

I'd agree that the ads probably aren't a big factor though.

Adding to your comment, it's my understanding that many people feel the site is poorly designed. I've often heard "I wish there were an easier way to..." in relation to facebook.

And its so very buggy...

What are some other sites that lay people use and that do as many things as Facebook does?

Yeah, I hear people (usually on Twitter, often right after proudly mentioning how rarely they use Facebook) commenting negatively about Facebook's UI, but it's pretty rare that I see somebody point to a site that does the same things and does it better.

Funny. I remember one of the main reasons for the adoption of Facebook vs. Myspace was "Cleaner looks, better usability". Last thing I heard Myspace is still around, and I guess so will be Facebook, once someone else takes over their lead.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com