Facebook dinged by tracking Beacon
So Facebook puts a tracking beacon on its site that gives it information about its users to others. And, people don’t like it. For a site that should be all about the User, this is a sizable PR ooops. To be fair, this beacon stuff isn’t unique to Facebook. I wish I had a list of other sites, but I don’t. Although, I would expect it to hold some well-known names. Zuckerberg continues to learn; in this case, remember your roots, Mark.
Here is some info from PC World:
On Dec. 5, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized in his blog for the Beacon program, which tracked the purchases of Facebook users on third-party websites such as Overstock.com and Fandango.com. The information about those purchases was then pushed to friends of that user on their respective Facebook homepages. As an example, if one person booked a movie ticket on Fandango, his or her friends might get a notification that showed his purchase.
Even the Harvard Business sent this to my inbox (do you think they even have Facebook accounts? Probably, by now)…
Why Facebook Beacon Will Not Stick With Users
Misiek Piskorski
This week, Facebook suffered its second product roll-out gaffe of the year, when user outcry over its new Beacon advertising feature reached such a level that CEO Mark Zuckerberg was forced to issue a public apology for the way the company handled the launch. Last year, the company suffered a similar humiliation when its NewsFeed product earned the ire of users.
Facebook apparently hasn’t yet learned that online social networks are successful only when they provide features that simultaneously pass two tests:
Sphere: Related Content* First, features cannot disclose any information that people would never disclose offline. If a feature fails to pass this test, users will leave the site or engage in vehement protest.
* Second, features need to help people broadcast information that friends or other recipients will find helpful. If a feature passes this test, users are guaranteed to take it up in droves. Otherwise, people will opt out or ignore the feature.
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