Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Facebook Admits Fault, Adds Privacy Controls

The people have spoken, and Facebook has listened. The social networking site recently added feeds that broadcasted users’ every (cyber) movement – according to one person, the changes made Facebook “stalkeriffic.” Today, the site’s creator, Mark Zuckerberg, made an admission: “We really messed this one up.”

When Facebook users signed in today, they were greeted by a letter of apology. “This may sound silly, but I want to thank all of you who have written in and created groups and protested,” Zuckerberg wrote. “All of you” presumably includes the 741,059 members of the group “Students against Facebook News Feed (Official Petition to Facebook).”

Dozens, if not hundreds, of similar groups popped up, also drawing in thousands of users. Keep in mind, the controversial changes to Facebook were only made earlier this week. Zuckerberg acknowledged the strength of the response, writing, “Even though I wish I hadn’t made so many of you angry, I am glad we got to hear you.”

His apology both admitted fault and promised change. “Somehow we missed this point with Feed and we didn’t build in the proper privacy controls right away,” Zuckerberg wrote. “This was a big mistake on our part, and I’m sorry for it. But apologizing isn’t enough. I wanted to make sure we did something about it, and quickly. So we have been coding nonstop for two days to get you better privacy controls.”

Those last three words linked out to new privacy options. These give a list of the events that Facebook will never “spread around,” as well as an explanation of what things “News Feed and Mini-Feed may publish stories about.” Users can now, for the most part, determine which of their actions will be publicized.

As the creator of the group “Facebook has lost their damn minds” wrote, “VICTORY HAS BEEN WON!!!!!!!!!! (FOR THE MOST PART).”

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Doug is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest eBusiness news.

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