Pissing on Facebook – How Fashionable!

So the latest buzz about “The Book” is that it has been valued at 70 Billion dollars. I just got through about 2/3 of a thread (which I will NOT link to), on a popular SM site, of people bitching and complaining about Facebook. People are predicting it to crash like the dot coms and point out the death (almost) of MySpace, and it’s present value, as what the future holds for Facebook. Frankly I’m surprised that these people have time to post about the crash of Facebook. Surely they have all liquidated their assets to get ready to short the stock so should they not be off decorating Yachts and previewing private islands?

Nice mouth on that gift horse

I’m not here to discuss whether or not something like Facebook is overvalued as I don’t pretend to understand the inner workings of IPO’s and how these types of valuations are made but I have a hard time seeing how something as revolutionary as Facebook could not be worth such an obscene figure. With ad revenues alone of $2B and projected to come close to doubling during the worst economic times of almost three generations doesn’t that almost justify the figure? Then there is the magic to Facebook that anyone who uses it understands and the question about what that is worth. How do you put a price on the type of impact that Facebook has? How do you say that it’s NOT worth $70 billion? That’s just how I view it. One admittedly ignorant opinion.

What I do want to comment on, what I am fascinated by, is yet another round of whining, complaining, bitching and nagging on, and about, Facebook. This time over what OTHER PEOPLE have valued it at. Facebook whining is not new but it seems to get stronger and stronger the further removed we get from a time when it would have seemed like magic to have old friends be able to contact you out of the blue (while still holding the power as whether to engage them or not). It was eons ago when we asked “so I can store all of my pictures and video on there? What does it cost?” or “Imagine if there was a place where I could promote my event, business, or just my opinion in front of the whole world for absolutely free? Wow, would that ever be cool!”. How innocent, blissful and naive we were back in that long forgotten era of what… 2007?

But not today. Today we take our free pony ride and complain about the worn saddle. Today we are the homeless man sending back the steak at the shelter because it is overcooked. Today it seems we have lost all accountability to be appreciative of something that we take so much from without having to cough up a penny. We smile graciously at the host as he invites us into his home, then stab him in the back when he turns to get back to the business of finding more ways to entertain ourselves upon our next visit. So what if he happens to be a Bazillionaire ? He got that money by creating something that hundreds of millions of people  are compelled to look at every day. He monetizes it not by charging us for our obsession, but by charging the people who wish to get their products in front of us. I can’t walk down the street, turn on the TV, surf 90% of the internett, or even go to a sporting event without other mediums doing the exact same thing so how is this different? Why the wrath? Why the whining and moaning?

We complain every time Facebook changes it’s format a bit and we have to spend an extra 10 seconds finding the millions of photographs that we, and our friends, have stored on their servers… for free.

It's a fake but you get the idea

We start petitions saying that we will leave Facebook if it ever becomes “not Free” even though Facebook has never even hinted at a user pay system and  has taken on a “will always be free”  slogan to defend against something it never had any intention of doing in the first place. Did I mention that these petitions are all in the form of Facebook groups and pages? I really Irony

**WARNING ALERT** Change your settings because now Facebook can use your pictures to invade Iraq if your permissions are not set properly! Click here to join our group to keep Facebook out of Iraq!

Facebook spammed me! There was a weird little update on my feed about some viagra. I’m so mad about this! Why can’t this free website that I am on for hours a day, that hosts all of my pictures and video, and allows me to connect and chat with my friends…. why can’t they get their damn act together so that this doesn’t happen!

Facial recognition is scary! OK, this is a touchy one with many people  so I will try to dial back the sarcasm but what does this really mean? Facebook wants to use technology that allows them to identify you in a picture and then allow your friends to tag you. That sounds kind of scary but why? Your friends can already tag you in any picture where they see you. Who is it on your friends list that you are so scared of having see your new pictures? What other of your friends do you not want to see you in that picture after the first friend has tagged you? If this is a big deal to you then you really need to cull your friend list or better filter the pictures you are putting up. I think many people saw “facial recognition” and freaked out in Orwellian paranoia.

“I hate how I always have to opt-out, why does Facebook always have to shove the new stuff down my throat and I have to opt-out if I don’t want it? Why don’t they let me just opt-in?” Again Pal, you’re missing the point. It’s their playground and your playing in it for free. If they want to add something that is valuable to them then that is their right. Isn’t it nice of them to give you the choice to opt-out of something that they feel serves them on their website that you use for free? If I want to change the settings on my home sound system I will do so and I certainly don’t feel the need to post a notice advising you of that before you next come over. If you decide you want to opt-out of that scenario then just opt your way back out the door. Why is Zuckerberg subjected to a round of abuse every time he makes a few changes in his play room? Besides, you made the ultimate opt-in when you signed up and continue to visit the site.

The next thing is coming so get ready for a new round of mumblings as Facebook has reportedly started testing yet another version. I have not seen it but apparently the change has something to do with the ad bar staying static as the page scrolls. No big whoop if you ask me but I have seen many people bitching about it with some proclaiming that they will be “walking away” from Facebook. I can’t help but wonder if they will be so vociferous upon their return?

Who left this here?

Yes, yes I know the other side of the story. I just don’t agree with it. There was some kerfuffle a while back about who “owns” the images that we all put up onto Facebook. Much like the financial questions in the opening paragraph, I don’t claim to be an expert on issues like intellectual property, but a lot of this seems like common sense. If you ask me if you can store your shovel in my garage and I agree. Guess what? I’m going to feel really comfortable using it during the next snow storm to dig out my car if I can’t find my own shovel. In fact, I’m not even going to call you to ask permission because I’m just going to assume that was the deal. If we can’t operate under that type of baseline understanding then keep your damn shovel out of my garage.

Does a picture of my wife and I having a drink at sunset really have any value to anyone other than ourselves or our friends and family? If so, I posted it below so feel free to grab it and sell it to the highest bidder. Consider it my gift to you for having read this far. If Facebook says they “own” it does that mean they reach through my wireless and pull it off of my hard drive so that I can never see it again? What evil and unscrupulous behaviors could ever emanate from Facebook “owning” that picture? What could I possibly be concerned about by the fact that people might find out we had our honeymoon in Kauai (as if anyone would care) and I wore a blue shirt one night? Will they reach into my brain and scrape out that memory of a great evening? I seem to remember a lot of people with camera’s there that evening, should I have been doing a Sean Penn style camera smash on every one remotely pointed in my direction? I just don’t get it. Are there people out there posting pictures of their jewels and tagging their address and vacation schedules? What the heck are people putting up on Facebook that they are so afraid will be stolen by the Facebook terms of service? I get to conveniently share my pictures, videos and updates with friends and family. If the trade-off for that is that Facebook now “owns” those images without having taken them from me or restricting my future use of them then I guess that is a price I pay for the convenience of the service. If Mark can somehow turn around and monetize that image and blow the value up to 70B and 10 dollars then good for him.

“Thanks for setting this all up Bro, enjoy the $10, you earned it. I just played a round of golf with an old buddy I lost touch with 20 years ago. It was the highlight of my week and it probably never would have happened if you weren’t the visionary that you are”

This image is now being exploited on Facebook

I said above that I would not link to the feed of whining (as if you could not have found it yourself) but I have changed my mind and decided to share a similar thread full of similar attitudes. It’s not so much the article itself , which seems to have a balanced view on something as earth-shattering as a tweak to Facebook, but rather the comments below that get my ire . You can find it here but I’m just going to sit a while and enjoy the rest of this sunset and hope that some people can figure out something that is really worth getting so mad about.