The social network Facebook , strong $ 400 million of users , oscillates between two poles: one hand like a unstoppable phenomenon , the numbers dizziness, milling results and shatters record as almost never before, on the other hand, seems under siege because of its historical Achilles heel: the privacy . Facebook is therefore at a crossroads ? Risks to end the virtual world of LindenLab, sgonfiatosi within a few seasons? Maybe not, but in view of the likely IPO (the quote on Wall Street ) expected in2011, Facebook is watching very carefully, because the social network will learn to monetize the success, but this road could lose the soul (and users) .
Here are the lights and shadows the rise of social networking irresistible. Facebook has surpassed Google (according to Hitwiselast March 13 Facebook held 7.7% of Web visits, while Googlehad to settle for 7.3%) and Yahoo! (in display advertising) “I like you” on Facebook has counted a billion hits on 24 hours . But Facebook may lose some pieces: the divorce from Farmville (the social gaming has 83 million users) is an alarm bell, the group also was born Quit Facebook Day ” , which would leave Facebook May 31.
Three U.S. engineers have created then OpenBook to denounce shortcomings and dark side, side privacy, always Facebook. Simply type one or more words, and here is the post sent in recent days with the keyword. Messages belonging to social networks, but now everyone can read on the Web: friends, friends … and enemies. The site digs in the information made public through the Facebook applications that open the community to the rest of the Internet. A glaring faux pas.
To irritate Facebook users are the recent changes to the policy of privacy : the menu of 50 setting with over 170 options is truly labyrinthine , not to mention the complexity of a privacy policy that contains 1200 words in morethan the U.S. Constitution, As previously noted, sarcastically, the New York Times . The letter from U.S. senatorsagainst Facebook is pulling air eloquent.
Facebook preparing for a summit to review the Privacy Policy : but still could not suffice to appease the anger of the people, whose right to privacy is being challenged by the maneuvers of social networks on the path to profitability. And it’s still the unresolved controversy of social networks no risk : the risk to users are many and never died down. The study in Consumer Reports shows that online privacy is the true Cinderella of social networks , Facebook in the head.
The moment of social networks is undeniable, as evidenced by even 2 billion videos viewed daily on YouTube , the video sharing site. But the exponential growth of Facebook could run aground on the way of privacy, if the site will not know which way to choose well, combining monetization maintaining the confidentiality of their 400 million users.
