Dec 27 2012
Thursday News: A Zuckerberg becomes confused about Facebook’s privacy settings; Disposing of unwanted giftcards; an online private catalog for your books
Randi Zuckerberg Is Just as Confused by Facebook Privacy as You Are – Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, generally believes people should live their private lives publicly or at least that is how he runs Facebook with the privacy settings constantly changing and always requiring an opt in action by users to keep their information private. His sister, Randi, a PR exec for Facebook demonstrated over the holidays how easy it is to be confused by Facebook’s privacy settings. Gizmodo
She shared a picture on Facebook and believed it was private. Only it wasn’t and Callie Schweitzer of Vox Media tweeted the picture only to have Randi Zuckerberg throw a twitter tantrum accusing Callie of not having “human decency” because Callie never asked permission before reposting the picture publicly. Note that Callie only saw the picture because it was public.
Oh, if only Mark Zuckerberg believed in human decency as well and actually took steps to help people preserve their privacy instead of asserting that Facebook is just reflecting social norms of sharing.
Small Demons — Welcome to the Storyverse – Richard Nash is turning Small Demons into a discovery tool. Pick a book and you’ll find other books that reference it; the people in the book; or locations in the book. It offers content around the content and can add to your appreciation for a book or lead you to new discoveries. Small Demons
QuietThyme – QuietThyme is a site where you can upload your books and it will maintain a searchable database of your books and will generate an OPDS catalog that works with various apps on Android and iOS tablets. There is a free version for 100 books and a $10 per month version for 500 books. It’s a fairly neat service but costly. QuietThyme
What to do With Unwanted Gift Cards – Did you get a giftcard to a store you can’t stand, won’t shop at, don’t even know where it is? If so, The Daily Beast has some solutions. You can sell your giftcard for a reduced value to giftcards.com or regift it.
(Also, TDB uses a Target giftcard in the article. Who doesn’t like Target? Send it to me!)The Daily Beast
Send to Kindle
Dec 27, 2012 @ 04:35:30
Chortles :D
Dec 27, 2012 @ 07:41:02
Not so long ago an Internet friend wanted to know whether her supposedly ‘private’ photos on Facebook could be seen by an outsider. She asked me to visit FB, log in and access them. I did it without any problems, describing the photos to her on Twitter. Do you want some privacy on FB? Delete sensitive material and here you go – you are totally protected against Mark Zuckerberg and his empire of kitsch.
Dec 27, 2012 @ 08:15:11
On the Facebook flap: Ha! Now Zuckerburg realizes his great developments aren’t so great after all! All we have to see is if he decides to make changes users would actually apppreciate.
Dec 27, 2012 @ 08:55:29
Yes, I am going to say it even if it has nothing of substance to contribute to any type of discussion: I am so glad I don’t have a FB account. Twitter isn’t any better and I do have an account there but I rarely use it anymore. I despise the trend of sharing everything you do online.
Dec 27, 2012 @ 09:18:16
Small Demons = one of the best time-wasters on the net.
Dec 27, 2012 @ 09:24:30
I don’t care if everyone else is on Facebook. It’s too dangerous, and I resent the way companies give special deals and coupons to their Facebook followers to try to force them to use it. Authors and bloggers do this also and it drives me crazy. We have already given up so much privacy due to the web, and Facebook just keeps pushing those limits.
Dec 27, 2012 @ 09:34:06
Re Zuckerberg – perhaps they will now learn not only the meaning of privacy, but also of Karma.
Dec 27, 2012 @ 09:36:55
Speaking of Facebook…last week the Senate very quietly passed a reform to the Video Privacy Protection Act, clearing the way for an integration which would enable Netflix to display their customers’ video streaming history on Facebook.
Step by step, bill by bill, citizen privacy is eroding in the name of profit…
Dec 27, 2012 @ 10:07:10
By the way, I would encourage everyone who is concerned about internet privacy to support the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). They are a non-profit org that is fighting hard for internet privacy rights. They were one of the lead organizations against the infamous SOPA act and they continue to fight the good fight against all of these misguided bills. It’s sad that our government is so in thrall to corporate interests.
Dec 27, 2012 @ 11:13:54
@JenM: I couldn’t agree with you more. Twit-Face is persona non grata in our household. My youngest son is most upset about this and often vows to tattoo his body and post it all over the web when he’s eighteen. Thankfully he’s only twelve and I have time to prepare.
EFF and the activist group Credo are out there fighting the fight and making a huge difference, I am in total support of both organizations.
The coupon thing really gripes me too!!!
Dec 27, 2012 @ 12:07:03
I don’t find Facebook’s privacy settings at all confusing. I make a point of checking the settings then logging out and Googling myself periodically, and making sure nothing but my name and profile pic shows up.
If this is too confusing for you, or not worth the effort, then you make the right decision by avoiding social media. Just spare the rest of us your indie rock Pete act of being too good for it all.
Dec 27, 2012 @ 12:39:33
I’m not on Facebook, and while I am too good for it all, I am also too lazy for it all. Cultivating an online presence felt like a second job. When I found myself agonizing over specifics of my profile (“What music/books/quotes really capture who I am?” angsty soul-searching ensued), I knew I couldn’t handle it.
Dec 27, 2012 @ 18:45:22
@JenM:
Oh, get this: Some of the important information about my college major and college clubs are ONLY visible on Facebook. It makes me a sad Jess because I loathe Facebook more than I’ve loathed any other website (to date, anyway).