Facebook however, has caught some flack for potentially allowing sexual predators, strangers, and employers access to information that its users want to be kept private. Although these all clearly vary in terms of severity, they all potentially can solicit information from unsuspecting users of Facebook. I understand that nothing is truly hidden on the internet, but Facebook further blurs the line of what is public and what is private.
What I believe is a greater problem however, is the ability that Facebook has to cater its advertising towards each individual user through the use of cookies, caches, and scripting. Although there are potential benefits to users seeing ads that are pertinent to their likes and desires, there is also great risk in allowing a singular site to aggregate so much information on so many people. As the user base for Facebook continues to expand, the potential for misuse by Facebook or others who illegally access Facebook will only increase. At what point does Facebook know too much and at what point does it need to impose some limits on itself?
This picture was not doctored and was posted recently online. Nothing about it is that uncommon really. It's about a girl who dumps her boyfriend via the Facebook status feature. That's commonplace in the Facebook generation.
What is not commonplace however, is the advertisement that recognized the status update instantly and placed an appropriate ad under the left column. That's just eerie.
Facebook stalking has become quite the popular thing and most often is nothing more than people perusing the site looking for attractive people or looking for gossip. It was something of a phenomenon that was more joke than mean spirited.
The problem now however, it's not only us stalking our cohorts, Facebook is stalking us and it's creeping me out.
That is all
-ydollar
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