Facebook Offers Easy Commenting Alternative

Spice Consumer writes "Facebook has just unveiled a 'new system (that) lets website owners replace their current commenting system with Facebook's simply by dropping in a few lines of JavaScript.' How widely adopted this new system becomes could greatly affect Facebook's already entrenched position on the web and further compromise individual users' privacy."

This is too much power

[blind biker]

I am quite upset at all those sites using Facebook's login. Using Facebook for commenting is just another step in the wrong direction of giving Facebook powers over large swaths of the Internet.

And we're not talking of a benevolent, honest company here, either. This is a company that will try any and all unethical tricks in it's toolbox, and back just half a step back after a huge storm of dicontent. Then they'll try again. This is Fuckerberg's domain, you don't want them in control of anything outside of Facebook.

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Re:I have seen this several times already

[jkmartin]

Even if Facebook doesn't sell it, they keep everything you ever do. Case in point:

Eight months ago I was looking for an (actual) friend on Facebook. He did not have an account. Two months ago the friend signed up for Facebook. I immediately began receiving notifications that I should add this person as a friend. He hadn't contacted me. I hadn't contacted him. We don't have any interests or friends in common and we live in different states. Our only connection was that 6 month old search I did.

And that doesn't even touch the fact that since the Facebook commenting system isn't threaded it loses all value. Wow, you mean I can look through 20 pages of inane bullshit with occasional @friendsname references? Sign me up!

We've reached Peak Facebook. Everyone that wants an account has 1 (I canceled mine). Yes, there is growth in areas that don't already have easy internet access; but those markets offer smaller growth and revenue streams. Every new feature adds equal parts functionality and creepiness (though trending toward creepy). Facebook has become the de facto internet white pages, but I can hardly see why this would lead to a valuation of $65 billion. I really haven't even figured out how Facebook makes money (other than taking a cut on the sale of imaginary farm tractors).

I could be wrong. The paranoia of Zuckerberg seems equivalent to Gates so Facebook may stay on top longer than Geocities, Friendster, Myspace, or the half dozen other social networking sites that proceeded it. We should know in 5 years.

Re:What percent of the world is on the web?

[tomhudson]

It's much less than 10% of the world who are on facebook. Throw in all the people with multiple accounts, the accounts that haven't been used in months, the accounts created to be rented out as fans at five for a penny [bulkfans.com], and the people who generate oodles of accounts so they can get more points in their games, and it's doubtful that the number of unique facebook users is more than 1% or 2% of the world.

And we can divide THOSE into 3 groups - people bored out of their skulls looking to waste some time, people so insecure that facebook is their ego booster, and social marketing types who want you to believe that a facebook presence isn't fools gold.