I do understand what you're trying to get across in your post, however I think we should all be a bit more careful when we throw around the term "free".

i've put both time & personal information into the service which Facebook tries to make a profit on. That time & personal information is absolutely a value to Facebook, as is the connectivity that they provide me. Just because money isn't exchanging hands doesn't mean that there isn't payments happening.

Just as people vote with their money in traditional capitalism, in Facebook we vote with the amount of time and information we put into the system. I believe that all of the "bitching" is necessary and healthy in keeping Facebook in check. It helps us get more of what we want and let's Facebook know their custumers better.

People don't always know what's best for them? That sounds a bit Microsofty to me :) Open source communities like Linux have proven that people not only know what's best for them, but do a pretty amazing job getting that done themselves and bypassing the boardroom all-together.

Am I quitting Facebook? Hell no. It's too valuable to me. However, I don't see that their track record is very impressive when it comes to trust and I will be treating it as a public forum from now on.

It's an issue of control, and what control we believe we do or don't have and how deeply we think about it. We happily hand over our Price Chopper card and trot off with our couple of bucks of savings without thinking about the record of purchases we just gave up. As Chris points out we give credit card companies all sorts of information for the convenience of being able to get stuff now and pay the bill some other time. We fret about lead in products from China because we feel like we are subjected to danger without our knowledge, yet smoke like fiends, eat gallons of Ben & Jerrys and have a few too many for the road before getting behind the wheel, with far greater risk of lung cancer, heart attack and car wreck - and we're okay with that because we're in control of those decisions.

I generally agree that if you don't want the world to find out about something, don't put it on Facebook (that is under my control). I don't like that I gave up X amount of information under one set of rules that have now changed to another set of rules (lack of control) but also accept that's just the way the world works. I find the ads for eliminating whinkles annoying more because I AM old and a potential target for wrinkle-remover than because they know that fact about me. And for the record I feel the same way about the snail mail I get inviting me to pre-retirement seminars - proof to me that this horse left the barn long before Facebook.

Which leads me to what I find most bothersome. This is just the latest iteration of very old news, which is getting ink, airtime and data bytes out of proportion to its importance because Facebook is the sexy topic everyone wants to cover. Meanwhile, the purveyors of databases with loads of information that boring old-school enterprises can buy and use may be the bigger story, but aren't newworthy. Which just like kids clumping around the ball at a preschool soccer game, diverts our attention from the game that's really being played.

It's an issue of control, and what control we believe we do or don't have and how deeply we think about it. We happily hand over our Price Chopper card and trot off with our couple of bucks of savings without thinking about the record of purchases we just gave up. As Chris points out we give credit card companies all sorts of information for the convenience of being able to get stuff now and pay the bill some other time. We fret about lead in products from China because we feel like we are subjected to danger without our knowledge, yet smoke like fiends, eat gallons of Ben & Jerrys and have a few too many for the road before getting behind the wheel, with far greater risk of lung cancer, heart attack and car wreck - and we're okay with that because we're in control of those decisions.

I generally agree that if you don't want the world to find out about something, don't put it on Facebook (that is under my control). I don't like that I gave up X amount of information under one set of rules that have now changed to another set of rules (lack of control) but also accept that's just the way the world works. I find the ads for eliminating whinkles annoying more because I AM old and a potential target for wrinkle-remover than because they know that fact about me. And for the record I feel the same way about the snail mail I get inviting me to pre-retirement seminars - proof to me that this horse left the barn long before Facebook.

Which leads me to what I find most bothersome. This is just the latest iteration of very old news, which is getting ink, airtime and data bytes out of proportion to its importance because Facebook is the sexy topic everyone wants to cover. Meanwhile, the purveyors of databases with loads of information that boring old-school enterprises can buy and use may be the bigger story, but aren't newworthy. Which just like kids clumping around the ball at a preschool soccer game, diverts our attention from the game that's really being played.

As you know, Ramsey, I work for a company that offers a lot of free stuff (e.g. events, activities, attractions.) It would be foolish for my company to ignore customer comments on the basis that what we offer is free. (Of course, as you also know, nothing is "free." We hope the people who take advantage of our free offerings will buy lunch, stay at a hotel, etc. Facebook hopes you'll click on an ad.)

It's my belief that our customers have the right and responsibility to tell us when we can do something better. Otherwise, how can we improve? Facebook is no different. Just because it's free and voluntary, why should it not be better? It won't continue to be an attractive advertising medium if too many customers become unhappy with aspects of it, whether it be privacy settings or anything else.

The world is littered with failed companies whose execs thought they were too big or too good for customers to walk away from.

I've found this discussion to vary greatly based on the age of the people doing the discussing. People under say 35 generally don't seem to give a flip about the privacy issues. People over 35, again generally, are more concerned.

As you know, FB started out as a school thing. All young people. Then it expanded, and they found they could vastly increase their profit potential by getting businesses and older/wealthier people into the fold. So those people (many of them over 35) came on board, FB became part of their daily fabric- professionally and personally- and now they feel violated. And it's like, "Okay, should I just delete my account if I'm so worried about privacy? Or I am so far in that I can't afford not to be here?"

But here's the funniest/most ironic part of it. Almost everyone concerned about FB privacy is certainly a credit card user. The CC companies know WAY, WAY, WAY more about you than FB ever could. So does your bank. So, unless you're living off the grid, FB should be a ways down on a person's list of privacy concerns.

(Sorry, I still think the iPad is a waste of money. Jobs doesn't always know what I need, yet ;-) )

I'm with ya on a lot of that, Ramsey. However, I do think that Facebook has always treaded pretty closely on too creepy. Chris mentioned in his comments that credit card companies have a far deeper understanding of our lives. While true, I don't think this isn't the qualm most people have with Facebook's privacy.

The problem I hear complained the most about is the inability to keep what you do on Facebook from reaching third parties not involved in that action. I don't want employers on Facebook, though I have no practical solution to this problem so I've just come to accept it. I don't want to have to link myself to a page of 1,000,000,000 fans of "sports" because I wrote it on my interests. I still think the Newsfeed is creepy. As much as it may augment your life, I am sure it does just as much harm to others (e.g., stalking, bullying in middle/high schools, etc.). I think the absolute most benefit the Newsfeed could provide someone is exponentially outweighed by the absolute worst harm it can do.

I couldn't care less about the advertising gathering information about me, every time I see "24-year-old video game testers being hired now" pop up, I become ridiculously happy, then quickly realize it's never going to happen.

Ultimately, I don't think anyone is going to stop using Facebook. If they do, it will be such a minuscule percentage of users that nothing will change. We all love to complain about the creepy, invasive, ridiculous changes, but anyone who uses Facebook with any regularity isn't going anywhere. So let Facebook bring on the next creepy change: your profile picture turns into a live webcam so long as you're logged in.

Well put Ramsey. A couple things to add 1. you are in control of what information you put on Facebook. If you don't want it shared, don't freaking post it on Facebook. 2. People think that sharing your information with advertisers is a bad thing. With so much adversiting clutter these days, don't people WANT advertisments customized to them? It's only a service to me to filter out ads that don't apply to me. And c'mon, who cares if an advertiser knows I like music and travel, it's not like facebook is giving out my bank account number. Be responsible and stop blaming facebook.