http://news.cnet.com/8301-31322_3-57324406-256/how-facebook-is-ruining-sharing/
Here's an interesting article on how by using its new Open Graph plan, Facebook is actually deterring users from sharing articles rather than encouraging them. The article explains:
When Facebook unveiled Open Graph at the f8 developer conference this year, it was clear that the goal of the initiative is to quantify just about everything you do on Facebook. All your shares are automatic, and both Facebook and publishers can track them, use them to develop personalization tools, and apply some kind of metric to them...The problem, really, is that the plan is turning out to be really annoying in practice. Spotify song sharing is like the new FarmVille, and its auto-sharing turned out to be an unpleasant surprise for folks who didn't quite understand just how frictionless Open Graph sharing would be... In search of "frictionless" sharing, Facebook is putting up a barrier to entry on items your friends want you to see--that is, they're creating friction. Even if it's just a onetime inconvenience, any barrier to sharing breaks sharing...
I know that I find it really annoying when I try to click on a link, only to be stopped with an app request. Since the point of facebook is sharing, I agree with the article in suggesting that the social networking site re-focuses on voluntary and purposeful sharing rather than listing and reporting users' personal online activity.
1 comment:
It will be interesting to see how many of these changes end up sticking. I also find many of them pretty annoying.
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