When Facebook announced last week a change to its Facebook “Groups” feature, CEO Mark Zuckerberg proudly touted the upgrade as an ingenious new way to connect with friends — that is, until the new feature was used against him.
Last week when Facebook changed the Groups feature, it neglected to inform users that ANY existing friend now has the ability to add your name to ANY Facebook Group they choose, all without your knowledge or prior consent. Nor did they tell you that they’ve made it virtually impossible to opt out of that feature, meaning the only way to avoid it is to either block the group after the fact, or just un-friend the friend who added you in the first place (thanks again, Facebook). It’s this utter lack of respect for user privacy that has prompted some rather negative feedback toward Facebook of late. But, screaming at Facebook that you don’t like their “privacy is dead” mentality is about as useless as shouting marching instructions to a dead man. Except, one man found a way to make his point known to Zuckerberg and his social network associates in a rather interesting way.
On Thursday, tech blogger Michael Arrington added Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis to a group called NAMBLA. Not a big deal, you say? Well, it was a big deal to Zuckerberg and Calacanis, since NAMBLA is an acronym for the gay pedophile and pedarasty advocacy organization North American Man/Boy Love Association. When it became public knowledge to all his Facebook friends that he was a member or at least a supporter of such a group, Calacanis fired off a quick email to Zuckerberg complaining that he was angry his name was added to the group without even being given the courtesy or opportunity to opt in. Naturally, there was instant general confusion, since Zuckerberg could not decipher how he or Calacanis became members of a group that condones consensual sex between adult men and young boys, all without their knowledge or consent. But, since Zuckerberg had just given the green light to unilaterally add ANY friend to ANY group, it was perfectly legit and legal as per Facebook terms and conditions.
How did Zuckerberg get added to the North American Man/Boy Love Association? “I typed in his name and hit enter,” Arrington wrote on the TechCrunch blog. “He’s my Facebook friend, I therefore have the right to add him.” Good one!
Needless to say, Zuckerberg was livid with embarrassment, and according to Arrington, “as soon as Zuckerberg unsubscribed I lost the ability to add him to any further groups at all, another protection against spamming and pranks.”
So thanks Mark Zuckerberg for forcing us peons to be added to Groups we may not support, all without our knowledge or consent. It was a really great idea — that is, until YOU were added to a Group without YOUR knowledge or YOUR consent.
Can anyone say, D-O-U-B-L-E S-T-A-N-D-A-R-D?
ROTFLMAO!!!! This is to funny. Facebook forces people into privacy problems and doesn't let you control your own unless you jump through hoops. Now the FB founder sees what it feels like on the other side of the fence. LOL The Man/Boy love thing was priceless.