How can anyone defend this behavior by Facebook? They purposely don't show the advertisement it to the person they are impersonating. And yes, they are impersonating me if they post something on my behalf merely because I liked something.
Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
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Re: Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
#32This is nothing new. Any facebook user has likely seen tons of these on their feed and so it's only somewhat logical to assume that, for your friends, you might come up in a similar fashion. In fact, isn't this completely related? http://mashable.com/2013/01/03/facebook-settlement-email/ . I think what the OP is referring to is exactly what Facebook calls a "Sponsored Story". I don't think that this is Facebook "impe…
I agree this is not new and probably not illegal but definitely misleading since a lot of people don't notice the subtle different between liking the post and the page.
Re: Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
#33This is nothing new. Any facebook user has likely seen tons of these on their feed and so it's only somewhat logical to assume that, for your friends, you might come up in a similar fashion. In fact, isn't this completely related? http://mashable.com/2013/01/03/facebook-settlement-email/ . I think what the OP is referring to is exactly what Facebook calls a "Sponsored Story". I don't think that this is Facebook "impe…
Yes, the OP is specifically referring to "Sponsored Stories" – the concern and alarm is raised because the user has no way of knowing what stories are being attached to their name, or even that its happening at all.
As for your later point, your assumption that all users know these posts are advertisement and that users understand their friend didn't really like a post about 2 Girls 1 Cup – is patently false based on OP's own personal experience. His mother saw a Sponsored Story by VICE about "Penis Waffles" that had his name attached to it. When she saw the post, it looked to her as if he had liked the story/post and urged him to take it down.
Re: Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
To my mind it's the price of publically 'liking' something. With that in mind, I only 'like' things that I would be happy to market to my friends.
The problem is not just that Facebook is reposting one of your likes, it's that they're associating your like with a related item. The OP liked one article on vice.com, and now Facebook is promoting that he liked something "related" to penis shaped waffles.
Sorry, I was unclear about what I meant by 'market to my friends.' What I intended to communicate was that I only like entities that I would trust to market to my friends responsibly.
I would never like a site like Vice because I know that they promote NSFW and lowbrow content for pageviews, and I don't want to be associated with that. On the other hand, I'm fine with liking bands that I know the spirit of, or small local businesses that I trust.
Re: Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
#35By now, everyone should know that anything you post or do, at all, on Facebook is probably going to become public at some point. That is how Facebook makes its money. If you value your privacy then simply don't use Facebook. I stopped about 2 years ago and quite frankly I haven't missed it for a moment. If you do want to use Facebook then accept that your data is not your own, no matter what they say and quit complai…
You and I may know that, as may the rest of the HN community, but it shouldn't stop us from trying to protect our friends and family who use Facebook unawares to these practices.
I know I don't want my mother thinking I liked a post about "2 Girls 1 Cup" – and my recourse shouldn't be to completely delete my Facebook account.
Re: Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point the OP is trying to make is not the liking of VICE – the "Johnny Wonny" account legitimately liked VICE, but did not like the POST that VICE chose to "sponsor" and show to other users as if he had liked it. It becomes disingenuous when Facebook doesn't inform the user that they are posting a specific article/post on the users behalf, to all his friends.
It's pretty obvious, at least to me, that the person liked just the brand, and that the brand is just advertising a post below the like. I would think it would say "Johnny Wonny liked VICE's post" if the user liked the post.
Correct, but this isn't obvious to everyone. This UI design seems purposefully chosen by Facebook to look as if the user has liked the post as well as the brand page.
Re: Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
To my mind it's the price of publically 'liking' something. With that in mind, I only 'like' things that I would be happy to market to my friends.
The problem is not just that Facebook is reposting one of your likes, it's that they're associating your like with a related item. The OP liked one article on vice.com, and now Facebook is promoting that he liked something "related" to penis shaped waffles.
...which crosses the borderline from "intrusive" to "outright deceptive".
I believe it's possible to turn off under "ads and friends" here: http://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads§ion=social&... but you never can be too sure with Facebook
Re: Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
#38This article is disingenuous. Facebook is putting related sponsored content next to a 'like' in the feed and it is labeled as such. The complaint here boils down to that an unsophisticated viewer might think that sponsored content was what was originally liked when it was actually not. They say this is "impersonating a user". That seems way over the top.
> an unsophisticated viewer
By which you mean "99% of Facebook's user base".
Re: Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
#39This article is disingenuous. Facebook is putting related sponsored content next to a 'like' in the feed and it is labeled as such. The complaint here boils down to that an unsophisticated viewer might think that sponsored content was what was originally liked when it was actually not. They say this is "impersonating a user". That seems way over the top.
You're facts are correct and this isn't officially "impersonating a user." However, there is a very fine line that Facebook is crossing.
Specifically, these sponsored posts are displayed in a way that causes confusion to the viewing user and, I am confident, this confusion is intentional on Facebook's part. As an apt web user with quite a bit of experience with Facebook and the web in general, I still get confused by these posts. I tend to assume they are posted by the friends that "liked" the brand and only in clearly questionable cases, such as when the post is about a bank, do I look close enough to realise it is sponsored content.
Intentionally causing confusion like this is shady, even if legal, and this "feature" of Facebook warrants as much attention as it is getting.
Ironically, this article is applying the same style of subtle confusion that it attacks (claiming that Facebook impersonates users when the author knows that's not technically accurate). But I must commend this article for providing the information in a simplified, easy-to-comprehend manner that is accessible by the average Facebook user. In fact, I may go share it right now...
Re: Facebook is impersonating users without their consent
#40I'm not a Facebook hater but I don't have the time to keep up with all of their questionable tactics so I recently unliked everything and removed my profile and cover photos which I know understand are public. I also removed everything from my profile descriptions. Gaining my trust they are not.