That is the question.
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of an outrageous loss of privacy. Or, to take arms against a sea of updates and wall posts and friend connections. And, by opposing them? To die; to sleep … and never to be “poked” again.
I’m sure you’ve all been following the reaction to Facebook’s new (lack of) privacy policies. It’s clear we’re going to continue seeing these reports as the social network continues to serve their data-mining business model. There are plenty of great resources advising you about these changes and how you can reclaim some semblance of privacy online.
In the meantime, there are two movements attempting to show Facebook that its users are mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore. Of course, the real fact is not so many people are all that mad.
The first movement is QuitFacebookDay where people are encouraged to delete their accounts simultaneously on May 31st. As of this writing, 3,069 people have pledged to quit. Not exactly a real threat to a social network that boasts more than 400 million users. But, you gotta give ’em props for trying.
For those who feel quitting Facebook altogether is too extreme (I know, staying on top of my social life without it would be a shock to the system!) there is another alternative, the Facebook Protest. Here, the stand is that people should log out of Facebook (in all of your browsers) no later than the evening of June 5th. On the 6th, be sure to not use Facebook connect or click any “Like” buttons: basically refrain from ALL Facebook related activity. This way you don’t lose all your friends and photos and updates when you want to rejoin. (Although when people will rejoin is unclear. The protest doesn’t really state any specific demands to be met. So, the 1,200+ people who have agreed to stop all FB activity may very well pick it back up again in a few days.)
Either way, I hardly think Zuckerberg is shaking in his sneakers right now considering FB still averages 60 million status updates daily and tops Google in weekly traffic in the U.S.
Many of you have emailed me asking if I plan to quit FB. My answer is no. At least not any time in the near future. Not only does it help me to connect clients with target customers. But, let’s face it, any of y’all who are my FB friends, know I’m addicted to updates and photo and video postings. So, although I have reset my privacy lock-down settings, I have no plans to quit the site.
In the meantime, as you ponder your next move, here are two top ten lists for you to consider.
Click here for a recap of Facebook’s big privacy changes and what they mean.
Check out a list of Facebook’s latest security features, and then watch a video of how to fix your Facebook profile’s privacy settings in two minutes.