When Facebook first announced an ambitious initiative last September to induce us to share even more stuff on the social network, I was pretty enthusiastic. While many people fret about oversharing and privacy, I'm more than happy to have every tidbit of my digital life channeled through Facebook. <\/p>\n
Several months later, however, I've changed my mind about so-called \"frictionless sharing.\" Not only has it made my use of Facebook more complicated and more frustrating, but I think the argument can be made that it threatens the foundation of the social network's business model. <\/p>\n
Though Facebook continues to expand the service and the number of applications that run on it, I think the company would be well served by hitting the pause button and seriously rethinking the pitfalls of a service that makes sharing too easy. <\/p>\n
Let me start by giving you a personal example. <\/p>\n
My first use of \"frictionless sharing\" came through Spotify. To join the social music service, I created an account using my Facebook login information. Now, when I listen to a song on Spotify, it automatically feeds directly into my Facebook profile, where friends will see it on their news feeds. <\/p>\n
It's important to note how this is new. Years ago, the only way to share information on Facebook was to copy a link into a box or upload something directly and then hit post. Then, sharing evolved with the introduction of the so-called \"open graph,\" which allowed Websites <\/p>\n
Now we have what's been called \"frictionless sharing.\" There are no buttons to click, no links to copy. If you are logged into a service with your Facebook account that allows frictionless sharing, each time you read a news story, visit a Website, or listen to a song your activity flows right into Facebook. <\/p>\n
When I saw this with Spotify last summer, I was thrilled. I'm a huge music fan and the ease with which I could share every song I heard felt awesome. At the same time, I loved being able to see what friends were playing as they played it. Even better, I could now click on a button on Facebook that let me listen along with them. <\/p>\n
The problems began a couple of months later. My kids at home were listening to Spotify using my account, which automatically shared their tunes with my Facebook friends. While at work, my Facebook page would record that I was listening to all sorts of kids' music, or appalling selections from the likes of Justin Bieber. Friends would post snarky comments mocking me for my lame musical taste. <\/p>\n
Now, if this seems like a minor annoyance, think about this: How many people do you share your Facebook login with? How many people do you let post on your Facebook account? Zero. You just don't do it because Facebook is supposed to be all about you. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Continued here: <\/p>\n
O'Brien: New apps that make sharing too easy on Facebook could destroy it<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Facebook first announced an ambitious initiative last September to induce us to share even more stuff on the social network, I was pretty enthusiastic. While many people fret about oversharing and privacy, I'm more than happy to have every tidbit of my digital life channeled through Facebook. Several months later, however, I've changed my mind about so-called \"frictionless sharing.\" Not only has it made my use of Facebook more complicated and more frustrating, but I think the argument can be made that it threatens the foundation of the social network's business model Continue reading