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Comment by crowhack | Hacker News Reader

Yes I do but when I joined facebook I didn't realize they would create a super search engine to easily sort and categorize all of their users' data for more efficient targeted advertising. They sell likes, they have my friends sponsor ads they've never sponsored, they used 5 of my friends pictures to try to manipulate me into not deleting my account. We aren't their main customer but are there just to be targeted. Sounds like we are being used.

This graph search is just the last straw. It is terrifying the repercussions this search engine could have, and I believe this blog post shows some great examples.

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So you are arguing that you made something public on facebook, but you didn't expect it to be that public? It looks like people who reject/don't use facebook due to privacy concerns do so because they don't understand the implications of what they put there. Personally, if I were to be concerned about privacy, I'd just make some research to understand what is and isn't public and how to use the product overall, but I suppose one could be pissed off at facebook for not being clearer about who can or could see what you put in there (even though they constantly try to improve this). Either way, the argument "I don't use facebook because I'm concerned about the data they extract from me" is flawed and irrational, because facebook won't know anything you don't explicitly tell to it. I still hear that argument from some people every now and then and I can't help but think that they just don't understand and did not want to make an effort in understanding facebook.

My 'irrational' fear exists because of facebook's constantly changing uses of our data. When they began and we all started liking things we didn't know these same likes would be used for marketing purposes. We didn't know they would be used to sponsor ads. They went from a social network for people to a social network for companies. I agree with you and I do understand that I choose what is public, yes that's great; but how about the average user? Facebook makes money by selling it's users' data to companies. If everyone was private they wouldn't make any money.

This open graph search will be great for marketing purposes, and a silly tool for us users. I guarantee there are going to be some serious consequences of companies/governments having the power to instantly search and sort billion's of users' data. And maybe you'll say that some great findings can come from this search; maybe we can learn more about humans and societies with this tool? Maybe, but I believe the cost outweighs the benefits.

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