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Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

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Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#21

Post by tlrobinson »

I'm usually pretty tolerant of Facebook's more aggressive initiatives, but I've started blocking all of the "frictionless sharing" apps. The user interface they present is ridiculous.

1. I see a friend read an article that looks interesting. I click it.

2. Every time I click one of these I'm asked to add the application before I'm allowed to view the link.

3. My options are "ok" and "cancel". The first few times I assumed I couldn't read the article without clicking ok so I just hit the back button. It turns out "cancel" really means "don't add the app, just take me to the link".

Without that confirmation dialog (which most people probably blindly click through) this is exactly how social media worms work.

Perhaps alert users will click "cancel" the first 5 or 10 times, but eventually they're going to accidentally click "ok" or just give in. Not cool.

Plus, why would I want to see articles that friends read, but didn't think were worthy of manually posting about in the first place?

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#22

Post by cft »

lbrandy wrote: post #13

I work on the team that generated the warning that seems to be the crux of this post. I am pretty convinced that it is a bug. His central theme, though, is a bit misguided. I don't understand why 1) using opengraph, or 2) using a like button implies facebook should trust your link and whitelist it. Even pages with those integrations can be malicious. In this actual case though, the notification link (generated from t…

Let's argue Reductio ad absurdum.

Why does not Google pop-up similar warnings when you click on its search results?

-Because Google is dependent on the richness and abundance of third-party websites, for its search to be meaningful.

What is the objective of Facebook?

- To suck users into facebook.com, and sandbox them there. Similarly, the smaller objective of Facebook Social plugins is to lift the userbase from third party websites and move it into Facebook.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#23

Post by raganwald »

tlrobinson wrote: post #21

I'm usually pretty tolerant of Facebook's more aggressive initiatives, but I've started blocking all of the "frictionless sharing" apps. The user interface they present is ridiculous. 1. I see a friend read an article that looks interesting. I click it. 2. Every time I click one of these I'm asked to add the application before I'm allowed to view the link. 3. My options are "ok" and "cancel". The first few times I as…

I tried clicking “Cancel” on an app today, I was returned to FB without reading the article. I won’t bother trying again to discover whether it was a one-off, whether it was just that app, or whether the problem had something to do with whatever I was using to read FB (Flipboard, Facebook for iPad, Mobile Safari, Desktop Safari).

It is enough for me to know that regular links always work (even though FB tracks click-through) and “frictionless” links, aren’t.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#26

Post by ck2 »

1010010111 wrote: post #16
ck2 wrote: post #10

The only thing that will "fix" facebook is the next thing to popup to diminish their influence. Of course shooting themselves in the foot wouldn't hurt either. Remember MySpace? How about Digg?

Exactly. It is only when the annoyance levels reach a breaking point that the FB alternatives will be made as user-friendly as FB and brought to the attention of the masses. One will emerge as dominant. And the cycle begins again. Every itch gets properly scratched, eventually.

There's also the "fad" and "uncool" factor.

When everyone's mom and dad (and their mom and dad) is also on facebook, it's going to slowly start losing it's edginess.

Then the next "cool" site will emerge.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#27

Post by funkah »

redthrowaway wrote: post #9
ChuckMcM wrote: post #6

Cache link is essential, of course the term 'gaslighting' [1] may be common in some groups, it was new to me. The general theme is that Facebook is making changes which make the service benefit Facebook more and is less user friendly. I'm not sure it rises to the level of abuse implied by the term but that is clearly subjective. The 'answer' of course is to leave. I know, I know, "But all my friends are there!" or "N…

>(warning Wikipedia link) What's the warning for? If it's warning against being confronted with Jimbo's piercing gaze, that seems a bit snarky.

Oh, it's snarky. But not for that reason.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#28

Post by HalSF »

chc wrote: post #15
lbrandy wrote: post #13

I work on the team that generated the warning that seems to be the crux of this post. I am pretty convinced that it is a bug. His central theme, though, is a bit misguided. I don't understand why 1) using opengraph, or 2) using a like button implies facebook should trust your link and whitelist it. Even pages with those integrations can be malicious. In this actual case though, the notification link (generated from t…

Thank you for expressing this so cogently and calmly. It's easy to get defensive when somebody starts flinging wild accusations like Anil does here, but informative and level-headed responses like this are much better at keeping the conversation on track.

It’s hardly calm and cogent — in fact it’s sort of a wild accusation — to describe a post as “flinging wild accusations” when it does nothing of the sort. Yes, Anil’s post is sharply argued and it’s definitely a polemical pushback against Facebook’s practice, but it’s a valuable part of the debate (especially with the added value of the comments below it), not a flame.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#29

Post by kristiandupont »

cft wrote: post #22
lbrandy wrote: post #13

I work on the team that generated the warning that seems to be the crux of this post. I am pretty convinced that it is a bug. His central theme, though, is a bit misguided. I don't understand why 1) using opengraph, or 2) using a like button implies facebook should trust your link and whitelist it. Even pages with those integrations can be malicious. In this actual case though, the notification link (generated from t…

Let's argue Reductio ad absurdum. Why does not Google pop-up similar warnings when you click on its search results? -Because Google is dependent on the richness and abundance of third-party websites, for its search to be meaningful. What is the objective of Facebook? - To suck users into facebook.com, and sandbox them there. Similarly, the smaller objective of Facebook Social plugins is to lift the userbase from thir…

Google scans for malicious sites as well. The difference is of course, that on FB people share links whereas Google can just decide not to include a link in the results and the user will never know.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#30

Post by nomdeplume »

I applaud the author's use of detailed documentation and the ability and willingness to dig deeper into the technical side of what he believes to be the problem. As soon as I had installed the Firefox addon Noscript I began to notice the facebook scripts put in place on many sites having nothing to do with Facebook. Their real interest is not in being nice by providing you with a free service, but in using data aggregated by its large user base in order to find patterns - and to sell that information to the highest bidder. Pretty soon advertisers and governments will know more about you than you do yourself.
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