Facebook Issues

According to Naughton (2008) in his article, “THE Networker: Why Facebook wants to corner the market in personal info”, there are serious effects of Facebook. Robert Scoble is a well-known Internet blogger who got his start from Microsoft. Microsoft first hired him because as a public relations person for the Internet community. He then started his own website called Podtech.net, which is a video-blogging company. Scoble subscribed to Facebook.com, a social networking website, early. Another networking site contacted him to try out the new Alpha version of Plaxo.com. He then wondered if he could transfer his friends’ content from Facebook to Plaxo, and he did. In the end, he broke the user agreement.

Facebook should deal with facts of a leak of personal privacy information, conflict between social networking sites being “interoperable” ,and low security level.

First is the leak privacy information. On Facebook, much private information is listed, officially. After people become users of a networking website and register acquaintances in their own page, people can know almost all the acquaintance’s private information. People, especially teenagers, put private information these carelessly. There is enough information to know about default settings, but they do not always prepare to be careful about that. That is why the private information of many people leaks from networking websites.

Second, conflict among social networking sites being “interoperable” is also an issue. Nowadays, there are many similar social networking sites such as Facebook and Plaxo. Therefore, among networking companies, conflicts happen. As a result, either personal information will be shared by interacting applications or the company that gets to an important mass of useful information will be the supplier company for others. Companies will try to get a mass of personal information, competing with each other.

Third is about a low level of security. People who are familiar with networks can break their security, easily. Therefore, on a network, many events happen from place to place. Companies overlook security, so they need to have a security check. In addition to this, they need to enforce the security level to make users relieved.

In conclusion, Facebook has some issues. First is a leak of personal privacy information. Second is a conflict among social networking sites, and whether they are “interoperable”. Finally, low level of security is also issue. Nowadays, these issues affect many users.

Reference
Naughton, J. (2008, January 6). THE NETWORKER: Why Facebook wants to corner the market in personal info. The Observer, Business & Media. Retrived on March 26, 2008, from LexisNexis.