Just a few days ago, it was reported on TechCrunch, a new idea proposed by Facebook to expand their “Like” button. Currently, users are allowed to “like” their friends’ statuses, pictures, wall posts and so forth, but Facebook is now interested in expanding this idea to encompass the entire internet. It would allow third-party websites to simply add a “like” button to their page and if Facebook users like what they see, they can “like it” and it would appear on their wall. The complete details haven’t exactly been released yet, the most information I could find about it was through TechCrunch, and most other websites and blogs linked directly to TechCrunch.
The thought of being able to “like” anything over the web is both scary and intelligent at the same time. It is intelligent because of how it strengthens Facebook as a filter through which users can decide what they "like" on the web. Users can now interact with the websites they visit daily and say they like it and their friends can see which websites they visit and “like”. I find it very similar to the role that blogs play and ideas we discussed in the beginning of this semester. We discussed how blogs act as an intelligent filter and connect people to relevant, important or interesting websites that exist on the internet. Blogs filter the vast amounts of information and websites out there so we don't have to waste time looking around for things that interest us. Facebook now wants to latch onto this concept, and it makes sense. If I see my good friends “liking” particular websites, of course I’d go and check them out – simply because they are my 'friends' and we share similar interests.
Now while this may seem like a smart move for Facebook, I'm also sceptical of it and think its a scary thought at the same time. Facebook wants to expand to the whole internet, and it seems to be working. Facebook is becoming a Google level of scary. A few weeks ago, it was reported that Facebook was the most visited website for an entire week and surpassed Google in the week of March 13th, 2010. It seems like a smart move for Facebook to now try and compete with Google, but if the “like” button comes into effect, this will be huge for advertisers and businesses. We might soon be bombarded from third-party sites to get you to “like” their websites because it is an easy form of advertising for these companies. I’m finding it incredibly difficult to wrap my head around the idea of Facebook being present everywhere on the internet, that we simply cannot just sign out of our Facebook page, it will be everywhere on the internet soon.
Wow, I hadn't heard about this before! Though it is a smart business move for Facebook to take on the rest of the internet as their new frontier per say, the consequences are alarming. Like you suggested, instead of people simply logging and off of Facebook for a given period of time, it would link itself to whatever other internet activity you participate in.
ReplyDeleteFacebook would then be creating itself as the one intelligent filter people turn to, because it's just a "like" button click away, which would create a monopoly. Not to mention that Facebook would be able to track even more of our online habits to be able to sell to advertisers as well. What will they think of next?
Exactly, I completely agree with you. While its great they've decided to expand, the amount of power that gives ONE site is enormous. I think we should be really critical of this new way they are proposing to expand because we might potentially be monitored by Facebook about our surfing habits, only for advertising purposes.
ReplyDeleteSeems scary how fast they are expanding...