The ever-expanding Facebook network shows no sign of slowing down when it comes to evolving beyond its humble beginnings. Now the one-time collegiate clique has begun to make available its users' public listings to non-Facebook users. And soon, according to reports, Facebook profiles will be accessible to anyone willing to key-in a first and last name in Google and other major search engines.
(Now you can search the Facebook population by name)
For longtime Facebook users, undesirable access to what was thought to be Facebook-only personal information has become nothing short of commonplace.
I remember the addition of a news feed feature some time back that felt a bit invasive. This feature allowed friends to see what other friends were up to - for better or worse. Anyone could see when a new friend was added to a profile or when friend was removed. Then Facebook extended its service to high school age kids and next opened up its network to professionals who wanted to use Facebook to network. These moves by Facebook had users decrying Facebook had become "sketchier than MySpace."
Granted, Facebook has always gone the extra step to retain trust and privacy within its users. If one so chooses, they can still restrict all of their information to solely their friends within the network. But as the force that is Facebook charges on and beyond, only time will tell how long Facebook can manage the balance between becoming a MySpace free-for-all and a safe haven for college students to socialize online.
I agree that some of Facebook's recent ventures pose a threat to the privacy of its users. However, if you're going to make a critique of Facebook with the intention of illustrating its decreasing user privacy, you can't misrepresent steps along the way. News Feed never has and still does not show when 'friends' are removed. The privacy settings on your account include settings for News Feed, in which you can specify which items about you come up on the general feed. Here, you can also choose to keep your profile completely hidden from News Feed so that it doesn't report on your activity at all.
I agree that Facebook's increasingly corporate attitude should make users uneasy. Critique should be focused on the more recent F8 venture. A visit to Facebook's company website and a glance at the F8 keynote speech will show you that Facebook is now selling itself to companies as the ultimate marketing tool to target audiences. If anything shows the transformation of Facebook, it is F8.