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Facebook Steps Back From Way Over the Line

Facebook has been kind of messing up lately -- however, not enough to take back Mark Zuckerberg's recently minted billions or its social media dominance.

Timeline, to me and millions of others, is the worst interface since Office Bob. Privacy doesn't even seem to be an afterthought. And if you want dirt from the past, there's a new book chock full of dirty little secrets.

More recently someone at the firm had the bright idea of building a program for mobile users, a bit like FourSquare, that let you know when other Facebookers are nearby. As if that's not bad enough, they don't even have to be your friends.

Imagine the trouble that could cause. Affairs would no longer go undiscovered. Just try to skip work. And kids won't find it near as easy lying to their parents. The stranger stuff is way disturbing, maybe too creepy to even mention.

This idiocy actually went live. And someone with an ounce of sense pulled the plug.

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/02/2012 at 1:19 PM


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