I admit that's a good point. I don't accuse
Facebook of forcing anyone to join them,
it doesn't do this yet. But they try to force
users to stay there once they have joined. Many
users are lured in, or join out of curiosity, but
Facebook doesn't let them out again. That's evil,
especially because the high number of users
is a key element in their advertising strategy.
Another problem is that some data of your friends
- photos, videos, or information about events - may
be inaccessible for you if you don't join. Information
is no longer freely available on the internet. Finally
all the buzz generated around Facebook suggests
that it is a wonderful place. It is not - only if you
have something to sell. The buzz is generated
partly because the media itself is involved in
it - many journalists and newspapers have
an account themselves.
Imagine the language we speak would belong
to a company. Every 5 years the company would
invent a new version of the language with
plenty of new words, and every time we would
have to learn the new words and rules (and print
new books). The language we speak belongs to us.
Our private life, too. The Facebook operators
don't violate privacy occasionaly, it is their
core business to violate privacy. People should
be aware of this.
-J.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pieter Steenekamp" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 1:23 PM
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] You Have 0 Friends [why Facebook is evil]
If a grocery store offers to sell you a bread for a dollar, do you
accuse them of forcing you to give you a dollar? Then why do you accuse
Facebook of forcing you to do anything? If you don't like it, simply
don't open an account with them. If you don't buy bread then you die, so
I would rather accuse the grocery store of forcing me to part with my
dollar. If you don't open a Facebook account, at least you don't die.
Pieter
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