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privacy

My $.02 look at Facebook Places

Aug 21st, 2010
by Michelle Heath.
4 comments

When Facebook Places launched this week, I was like a kid waiting to unwrap a present. You know it’s coming but you don’t know what’s inside. I was ready to see what Facebook dished-out in their geo-app and how it would compare to Four Square. Here’s my $.02 and why I fail to be impressed.

Picture 8Facebook Places is a yawn. I mean, honestly, you’re Facebook and you launch a location-based app with two features? Yes, there are two features: 1) check in and 2) tag your friends. Checking in – duh, every other location-based app let’s you do it. So I’d say that’s more of the basics than a feature. Tagging your friends, now that’s unique and cool and the power of the Facebook social graph. But, it’s also where things get interesting, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Let’s say you’re at Game On at Fenway and you run into a friend who you happen to be friends with on Facebook. You check-in to Game On and you tag that friend. Said friend now automatically gets a post on their wall that they’re at Game On with Mr. Check-in. Let’s say said friend told his wife he was working late instead of running to meet the guys for a beer. Hm, I’d call that plain cold busted.

This is a privacy nightmare. Checking-in is a first person prerogative. There are places I check in and share and other places or times when I want to remain stealth. It’s my choice. Now, Facebook gives other people the ability to “check me in” and share my whereabouts without my consent. As my friend Aaron Strout said in his post about the privacy issue:

This is the thing that could make or break Places. The major sticking point being the ability to check people into a location. While I personally like this feature in theory (and it is unique to Facebook as far as I can tell), this will cause plenty of problems down the road. It will only take 1-2 times of someone being checked into a location that you either don’t want to be checked into or weren’t actually at… but by the time your friend/parent/significant other sees the update, it will be too late.

The one thing they really missed the boat on, IMHO, is the gaming aspect or lack there of. I love Four Square. Sure, it has it’s glitchiness and sometimes won’t let me check-in or can’t find my venue, but I think of it basically as geo-location “game” and games are fun. Let’s face it, people, especially social media people tend to be a little competitive and just a tad ego-centric (#justsayin). The idea of checking in to become the Mayor is pretty powerful. I have been trying to oust Aaron B. from his Mayorship at my local coffee joint. Seriously, who is this guy and why do I care? This guy must be drinking espresso via IV over there – I just can’t catch him. See! I love that. I watch people on Twitter banter about stealing mayorships or earning Player badges (yeah, I have that one too:). It’s fun, it’s something to share with your friends and it makes me want to use the app. Facebook completely missed this aspect of the app. Maybe it was on purpose to keep it simple but, to me, it falls way short.

I was out last night and checked-in on Four Square and noticed about 10 of my Four Square friends had checked in at a variety of places. When I thought about checking in on Places, I noticed that none of my friends had checked in – none. It made me wonder if people are hesitant to use Places because of the lack of privacy settings. What if I don’t want to tell my wall that I’m at the coffee shop? Well, too bad. You check in, you broadcast it. I hate this and it will definitely alter the way I use Places vs. Four Square.

So, I haven’t written Places off but I’m definitely finding it less fun and much more invasive than Four Square. What’s your take? Are you using Places? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Pie and the secret of sharing

Feb 19th, 2009
by Michelle Heath.
2 comments

It seems we are encouraged at a young age to share. I am constantly telling my 2.5 year old to “be a good sharer” and “share with other people so they will share with you”. But, let’s face it. Sharing is just not natural. It’s learned and not everyone get’s on the sharing-means-caring bus.

I’m a good sharer. I love to share food – put a bunch of different plates in front of me and I’m in heaven. I always share my last piece of gum and I will let you borrow my clothes as long as you promise to bring them back in the same shape you borrowed them in (yes, I know). But it wasn’t always like this. Back in the day, I was a horrible sharer. So bad that I wrote the word “PIE” on all of my things – Baby Alive, Malibu Barbi, Easy Bake Oven, Raggedy Anne – PIE, baby. Why PIE? Who the hell knows. Pie is yummie, I guess. So, if it said PIE, it was mine. My sister remembers this phase fondly and didn’t give a crap about PIE and tried to use my stuff anyway. It wasn’t a pleasant stage. Well, luckily the PIE-phase passed (though my mom still has the dolls with PIE written across their foreheads) and I am the sharer I am. How did that happen? What changed? I am sure there are a bunch of you behavioral psych folks out there who can tell me why it changed, so come on and let us in on the secret.

For the rest of us, let’s fast forward to the here and now. So, along comes Web 2.0. The “social” era. What’s it all about….you betchya, sharing. Photos, profiles, music, friends, walls, lifestreams, hobbies, resumes, tweets, videos the list goes on. What makes some share and others adamant PIE-er? Here’s my $.02.

1. Privacy. This is probably the biggest reason. A guy in my office (who will remain un-named) will not disclose a photo of himself to anyone but his immediate family. I completely cannot relate but it’s his right to keep it to himself. I often wonder – is it the worry of what could happen if said photo hits the net and is used to begin stalking him? Or is it something simpler – perhaps a discomfort with putting yourself out there. I’ve even heard of the suppressed “Catholic Guilt” theory. In any case, people have their own reasons and for that they get the PIE stamp.

2. Time. Many of the non-sharers I talk to say it’s a waste of time. Who has time to share photos or tell people what they had for lunch? Well, then, how do you explain the droves of people on Facebook and Twitter? They have time. Some of them, yes, too much time on their hands. Others, like me, juggle a million different things and social media is just a natural part of the day. Like checking my email or sending a text message or getting my latte. It is how I live.

3. Aversion to change. Can’t teach an old dog new tricks. This is true with the people out there who just can’t change. These are also the people who say they have nothing to say. Everyone has something to say. Come on, people! These are also the people who don’t see the value in sharing, they don’t care and they’ll argue till the death against it. To them I say, bleh.

4. Generation. Age definitely plays a factor. How many of our parents are on Facebook? or iLike? or Twitter? or FriendFeed? My guess is a very small percentage. My 60 year old uncle sees Facebook as a privacy disaster waiting to happen and a good way to start a high-school girl fight (he’s a high school teacher). My dad is still trying to figure out how to upload his photos to Snapfish and send me an email to tell me I can view them. Then I see some of my friends’ dad on Facebook and wonder, would I want my dad seeing me out on the town partying it up? Hm, not so much.

5. Lifestyle. There are people out there who just aren’t in the know. Yes, I know, dear reader, it’s hard to imagine. I have a friend from high school who just got email. Yes, I said email. It’s beyond me but some people just don’t have the lifestyle desire to get on the technology or the sharing bandwagon.

So, what does all this lead to. Well, if sharing is caring, what does what you share say about you? Are you a frequent Facebook status up-dater or are you more of a lurker who is present but not participating? If you’re a sharer, what’s the quality of what you share? People are fickle. They want to be engaged and entertained. When your posting, writing, uploading – think about the quality of your content and what it says about you. If you’re a sharer, take the quality of what you’re sharing to the next level. If you’re still in PIE-mode, come on now. Maybe you can take a baby step. Try out a social media site and see what it’s like to connect with a few new people or find out something new about someone you already know. Sharing makes you a contributor. The old way of learning was very one-dimensional. Now, I learn every day thanks to social media and people who share. New websites, products, ideas, personal updates – I have the ability to take it all in and decide how to use it. That makes me smarter and that makes me happy. Be smart. Be happy. Be social.