Facebook 'Feeds' Online Privacy Debate

ByABC News
September 8, 2006, 10:53 AM

Sept. 8, 2006 — -- A seemingly innocent Web site redesign sparked a user privacy controversy Wednesday, with more than half a million users of the popular social networking site Facebook.com speaking out against new features.

As of 10 a.m. ET today, more than 744,045 people had taken to their keyboards to protest Daily Feed and Mini-Feed, two new products recently added to Facebook.com's interface, by joining a group entitled "Students Against Facebook Newsfeed."

The new features give users a blow-by-blow update of what their friends are doing -- such as relationship changes, locations, new pictures, posted messages and groups joined -- in a streaming news format.

The public's reaction has not been ignored.

Site founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a blog to the Web site under the title, "Calm down. Breathe. We hear you."

"Students Against Facebook Newsfeed" is the largest of the protest groups.

On online message boards, users have posted their various complaints about the site's new features.

Privacy concerns and poor site design have been the most popular of their gripes.

"You went a bit too far this time, facebook," the group's mission statement says. "Very few of us want everyone automatically knowing what we update. We want to feel just a LITTLE bit of privacy, even if it is facebook. News Feed is just too creepy, too stalker-esque, and a feature that has to go."

Others have complained in posts that the newsfeed exemplifies generational differences in privacy.

"Our generation in paticular [sic] has a habit of voluntarily giving up privacy -- livejournals, away messages, facebook, etc. -- that older generations find a bit disturbing. I know my parents don't get it at all," wrote user Alexandra Skorik on a Facebook discussion board.

Zuckerberg attempted to quell public fear over privacy in his blog statement issued a few hours after the site changes had taken place.

"The privacy rules haven't changed," he wrote. "None of your information is visible to anyone who couldn't see it before the changes."