Facebook is starting to develop a touch of the same condition that afflicts Google, Microsoft and every other large technology company. They’ve gotten so big that you almost have to mistrust them a little bit. They control the digital lives of 350 million people. That’s an unbelievable amount of power. So when the company sets out to be standard for online identification — it’s understandable that this would make some privacy advocates upset.
But should you be worried? Some business owners might think that having a single online ID with loose privacy control is heaven. Just think about all that data, all that potential for referrals and viral marketing — it’s a dream come true. But social networks are only as useful as their members, and if Facebook tries to pull a fast one on their membership, it could hurt them in the long run. There’s no shortage of networks out there that want to be the next Facebook. Having a privacy and security policy that strongly favored users might be the one thing a fledgling networks could use to compete with the Facebook juggernaut.
Are you worried about Facebook’s growing footprint? Do you think it’s good or bad for businesses? Could users be driven away by a network’s privacy policy?