The Facebook Effect II

Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly declares about the site, “We’ve been able to build what we think is a safer, more trusted version of the Internet by holding people to the consequences of their actions and requiring them to use their real identity.” (201) Marc Rotenberg executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information takes a slightly different tact stating, “At every turn, it seems Facebook makes it more difficult than necessary to protect user privacy” (201). The problem with Rotenberg’s argument is that people willingly put their information on their Facebook page. Admittedly, once Facebook has the personal data of its users, the site targets ads based on a person’s “likes,” however, if privacy is an issue, don’t join Facebook. As twenty-five-year-old Facebook holdout Shaun Dolan proclaims, “My generation is unbearably narcissistic. When I go out with my friends, there is always a camera present, for the singular goal of posting pictures on Facebook. It’s as if night didn’t happen unless there’s proof of it on Facebook” (206). It seems, at least for the college aged and younger crowd, that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has indeed changed the world.

James Grimmelmann, an associate professor at the New York Law School explains that, “Most of Facebook’s problems are… natural consequences of the ways that people enthusiastically use Facebook” (212). The privacy issues usually revolve not around Facebook company policy, but rather behavior of a person’s accepted friends. The old adage “be careful who your friends are” is particularly appropriate for Facebook culture. In essence, Facebook is the ultimate virtual small-town. Everybody knows everybody else’s business. In the halls of the Facebook offices it’s a concept known as “ultimate transparency” or “radical transparency” (209). And, unlike many other locations on the Internet, we use our real names, thus we must be responsible for what we say. Zuckerberg emphatically states, “You have one identity… Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity.” The CEO may be on to something. After revealing it’s news feed feature many users felt their privacy was in jeopardy and 700,000 of them joined a Facebook page started by Northwestern University junior Ben Parr. Zuckerberg did not flinch in the face of the mass criticism. In September 2008, Parr now a technology writer, effectively recanted. “Here’s the major change in the last two years; we are more comfortable sharing our lives and thoughts instantly to thousands of people, close friends and strangers alike. The development of new technology and the rocking of the boat by Zuckerberg has led to this change… News Feed truly launched a revolution that requires us to stand back to appreciate. Privacy has not disappeared, but become even easier to control-what I want to share, I can share with everyone. What I want to keep private stays in my head.”

The forward thinking of an entrepreneur is often light-years ahead of everyone else. When Robin Reed joined Facebook to help in recruiting new talent for the rapidly expanding company she was an experienced businessperson. But, she quickly realized the genius of  Zuckerberg and his Facebook team was their ability to create new ways of doing things. “So I decided to forget what I knew and have a beginner’s mind,” Reed concluded. The rest of the world might do well to take head of this advice.