When I logged into AOL today — yes, I have an AOL account, have since the dawn of the Internet, and dang it, probably always will — one of the homepage headlines read:
How Facebook Is Tricking Its Users
It’s a good headline. It applies to a large and ever-growing audience, and smacks of scandal and intrigue. I immediately clicked on the link.
Turns out it was referring to the recent changes in Facebook’s privacy policy. The mega social network’s default privacy settings for a member’s personal information went from ‘friends only’ to ‘everyone,’ and no less than 10 privacy organizations have filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission.
Oh, the humanity.
I suppose I shouldn’t make light of the situation. But I am. Facebook announced the change to members in a pop-up window on their homepages. That window included instructions outlining, step-by-by, how to change your personal privacy settings from the new default to whatever you wanted them to be.
It was pretty darn straightforward, I thought.
Let’s remember how much we pay for Facebook, everyone — not a frickin’ cent. Nada. Nothing. We are occasionally annoyed by an ad or two in the right-hand column, but they are easily ignored. Heck, ads in television shows are much more in your face, and they certainly don’t stop us from watching “Modern Family” or “GLEE.”
So, instead of crying to the FTC or to each other about this change, why not just accept the new privacy defaults as rules of the house? Rules we have been given free rein to change…in the house that we live in for free...that we can move out of at any time that we like.
There’s that word again — free.
When you think about it, Facebook is hardly the big bad boogie man. He may just be the landlord of your dreams.
It’s not our singing ability — which I’m sure was your first thought — and it’s certainly not our size. (I have shoes bigger than her.) And while it’s true we both love musical theatre, I’m talking more ‘guilty pleasures’ here.
Sonic Drive-In
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