Summary:
In September 2007, Facebook launched two new features called the News Feed and Mini-Feed which allowed users to see a collection of actions made by their Facebook friends. This caused panic among many users alleging that this was an invasion of their privacy. The main concern revolved around non-friends being able to access too much information.
Allegations:
- Although none of the information displayed on the two new features had been previously private, more than 740,000 users rallied against the new feature, saying it compromised their privacy. The anti-newsfeed camp grew at an astonishing pace.
- Facebook users were very open about their complaints about the new features. "It's making it so much easier for people who want to do stalking to stalk," said Facebook user Igor Hiller, 17, a freshman at University of California, Santa Barbara. "Facebook users really think Facebook is becoming the Big Brother of the Internet recording every single move."
Defence:
- Three days after the launch of the two features, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a public apology to all its users saying the Facebook team "messed up." While he agreed that stalking was not cool, Zuckerberg defended the use of these features as a medium of being better able to know what's going on with your friends.
- The social media network released new privacy features, which let users block entire feed categories while still allowing people to observe such changes by visiting the profile page. Before, the user had to remove items one at a time from their personal feeds.