Facebook opens profiles to the public

[Ryan]

Popular social networking site Facebook has added a public-facing search function in a move which is likely to anger privacy advocates.
The function will initially allow anyone who is not registered with the site to search for a specific person.

More controversially, in a month's time, the feature will also allow people to track down Facebook members via search engines such as Google.

The firm said that the information being revealed is minimal.

Privacy erosion

The public search listing will show the thumbnail picture thumbnail of a Facebook member from their profile page as well as links allowing people to interact with them.

But, in order to add someone as a friend or send them a message, the person will have to be registered with Facebook.

Users who want to restrict what information is available to the public or opt out of the feature altogether can change their privacy settings. They have a month to do so.

Despite assurances from Facebook, critics have expressed disappointment at the move.

"This move transforms Facebook from being a social network to being a quasi-White Pages of the web," commented technology writer Om Malik in his blog GigaOm.

Mr Malik, and others, are concerned about the data trail that people are routinely leaving behind them on social networking and other sites.

There are concerns that personal content will become aggregated for marketing or other purposes.

Security experts have pointed out the dangers of publicising your date of birth - one of the options in a Facebook profile - because of the way it has been traditionally used as a way of identifying bank customers.

Facebook began life as a way of keeping US college students in touch with each other. Devised by Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg, the site now accounts for 1% of all net traffic and is the sixth most visited site in the US

The social networking site is thought to have about 39 million members. Numbers have jumped since the firm removed the need to have an academic e-mail address in September 2006.

@http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6980454.stm

Is this a good move? Certainly for the visitors the site will receive, I'm sure it is. As for privacy, I don't think that's a concern, as all members are given the option to opt out of the public profile. In what I suppose you could call "geek" circles this is being hailed as a success, but is allowing so much access to so many more people good? I think this is going to send Facebook the same way Google has gone; people having a subliminal reaction of distrust towards the company.

What do the good members of Debatingonline think about Facebook opening up 39 million accounts for public view? 

[Gantidge]

As am owner of a Facebook account (as well as MySpace, Bebo etc. as well) I can't help but feel a little nervous, but then again personally I don't post any information that could really be useful to anyone, apart from my name and a picture of me, which people can take from billions of websites. Some people I know aren't that careful, and those are the ones who have to watch out.

It's like here on DO. Fairly obviously, my name's not actually Gantidge any more than Philosobassist or Welsh-Angel. And my avatar is me, but not exactly a clear one of me. It's all about being subtle.

[Welsh-Angel]

Same here Gantidge i got accounts on various websites also, even Facebook. Profiles on websites are usually seen by others anyway even strangers so whats the big deal? Suppose it's a big deal for those who put their mobile numbers and addresses on their profiles but most people would use their common sense and not put any information that may make you vunerable.

[NathanMorgan]

I suppose it's viral marketing. The idea sounds good, and would get more people signing up for sure. Although I'd probably go for MySpace of all the social networking sites, namely because they have a large community of different groups ranging in lots of different topics, which could no doubt be used to fuel debates.

[Reuben]

Meh people can look at my facebook account, Don't really give a crap anyway. It's their for people to look at anyways

[Gantidge]

Precisely. My friends already know everything about me that I've put on Facebook, so I don't need to create it for their benefit. Therefore it must be the case that I'm putting it there for people who don't know me well. Unless I'm about to have loads of 'friends-of-a-friend' viewing my page all of a sudden, the only people who stand to gain anything from my account are strangers.

[Philosobassist]

Precisely. My friends already know everything about me that I've put on Facebook, so I don't need to create it for their benefit.

You hope Seriously, though, I agree, which is why I don't use these sorts of things. I see no reason to take this step:

the only people who stand to gain anything from my account are strangers.

Hence, on the issue, I personally don't care in the slightest, although logic says that it's finally going to give a point to these accounts.

[Gantidge]

I always saw the point of these profiles as so that 13 year-old teenagers can send random messages to each other saying "wwu2", which will garner the standard repsonse "nm". It's so they can show off their latest picture they took of themsleves, specifically to put on the site. It's so they can be part of random groups promoting the strangest ideas since mixing penut butter and jelly, and post stupid videos they've found on Youtube.

What's a paedophile going to want to do with that??

[Philosobassist]

13 year-old teenagers

Oli's 15, actually

It's so they can be part of random groups promoting the strangest ideas since mixing penut butter and jelly

You heretic!

What's a paedophile going to want to do with that??

I agree, and that's presumably the conclusion the admin came to, although I'd be willing to bet that somewhere out there there's someone who'd put their address or something up - as a challenge or out of sheer ignorance...

[Welsh-Angel]

can people manipulate photos into something rude?

[Gantidge]

They can, but the site has rules against what's allowed and what's not. If you want to stick rude photos of yourself on the 'Net there're plenty of sites that you can do that on

[Welsh-Angel]

I was thinking maybe a pedo could save a picture of a someone he got from the internet like facebook, manipulate it and be pleasured by his work?

[Philosobassist]

I was thinking maybe a pedo could save a picture of a someone he got from the internet like facebook, manipulate it and be pleasured by his work?

Possibly, but that's no threat to the actual user - what they don't know won't hurt them ... for the time being

[Welsh-Angel]

i suppose....