Joan Goodchild wrote an article for CSO Online that said Baby Boomers quit Facebook faster than they join based on information from Inside Facebook. The data indicate that after a huge growth in Facebook membership among the over-55 age group that same demographic began to defect in large numbers, just months after signing up. The CSO Online article quotes Scott Wright, a security consultant based in Canada and runs the site streetwise-security-zone.com says Boomers leave Facebook because they have discretion.
10 ways Facebook does not allow discretion
Here are 10 ways that Facebook does not allow for discretion, driving Boomer permanently off of Facebook.
1. Your Privacy is History Mr. Wright recalled an academic claim that the notion of privacy differs widely among generations. “The 20-something view of privacy is basically that their parents not see what they are doing. That’s about it,” he said. Apparently, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg agrees. He claims that openly sharing information with many people is today’s social norm. He went on to say “We view it as our role in the system to constantly be innovating and be updating what our system is to reflect what the current social norms are.” Many have translated this to mean Facebook doesn’t think its users want much privacy, and the policies of the site show that view. “If you can’t maintain privacy online and off, then you can’t speak freely,” said Bethan Tuttle, an Washington-based independent consultant and privacy advocate. Tuttle says in the article that the massive and quick growth Facebook has experienced, coupled with a lack of privacy-centric leadership has left end-user privacy as casualty.
2. They don’t have your best interests in mind Tom Eston, creator of the website socialmediasecurity.com points out, the business model of Facebook and Twitter, is to make user information as public as possible to generate new ways to make money. Mr. Eston said in the article;
They are really startups if you think about it. They don’t have a true business model … Their philosophy is the more you share, the more information they have to make money with. With that in mind, can you really count on them to protect you?
And do you know just how much information you are sharing that can be used not only by Facebook, but by the application developers that create those fun quizzes and games? Wright says most people don’t. (I wrote about this problem here).
3. Frequent redesigns affect privacy settings Mr. Wright in the CSO Online article said,
Just when people figure out the privacy settings on Facebook, they go and change them again … It always seems like it is being done in everyone’s best interest, but if you really examine it, they have never done anything other than to try to get people to share more information.
Facebook redesigns often make public, and searchable, certain user information that was previously private, and many of the features you can make private are left public unless you go in and adjust your privacy settings. This is no small task, according to Ms. Tuttle, “I am really good online but it took me several tries to get my Facebook privacy settings where I needed them to be.”
4. Social engineering attacks are getting more targeted Most Facebook users have received messages on their wall asking “Have you seen this video?” or “Is this you in this photo?” By clicking on the link, the user runs the risk of being infected by malware. These are known as social engineering attacks, and they are becoming more sophisticated said Mr. Wright. “They are becoming very targeted. Even seasoned security professionals are falling for them,” he said. The more information you share, coupled with a decrease in privacy, only means it is even easier for cyber criminals to get information about you that can be used to trick you into clicking on a bad link.
5. You can’t trust the ads Most web users think advertisements are harmless, unfortunately, some contain malicious links. One common scenario involves a pop-up from the ad that claims your computer is infected and prompts you to download software to fix it. Instead of helpful software, you end up downloading something nasty. This is now commonly known in the security community as “scareware,” and it’s still a very effective way to snare unsuspecting users.
6. Spam Spam claiming to be from Facebook has increased according to the article. “I think it’s a security concern,” said Mr. Eston. “Mostly because spammers can use that vulnerability to make you think the message is coming from Facebook when it is not. Many users simply wonder “Why is Facebook sending me this?” and instinctively open the message and log in to what turns out to be a fake screen that steals credentials.
7. You don’t really know your friends The author cites a report from security firm Cloudmark which concluded that close to 40 percent of new Facebook profiles are fakes. Having lots of friends is dangerous because it opens you up to more security risks. Mr. Wright said those who get targeted for hacking are the users who have lots of friends (here is an example). The more friends you have, the more reach a criminal will have when he breaks into your profile and sends out a bad link to everyone.
8. You can’t help yourself from being dumb The attention around the site pleaserobme.com brought to light the safety concerns around social networking. Pleaserobme aggregates the Twitter feeds of people who play Foursquare, a location-sharing application. The problem is while playing the game, many users are also publicly broadcasting that their home is likely unattended and a good “opportunity” (as the site terms it) for thieves. As Ms. Tuttle put it, you need to think about what you are doing and many people are not. You’re putting yourself out there in potentially dangerous ways, particularly if you don’t know all of your “friends” that well.
9. The great unknown CSO Online says there is a lot of speculation about a Facebook IPO and future business strategy. What does this mean for users? Mr. Wright said some fear it means an increase loss of privacy as the social networking site inevitably looks for ways to make money by offering up valuable user information to advertisers and developers. Mr. Wright said,
One of the things I find most interesting is that there are still many people who are scared to death of social networking sites. These are usually the people who don’t see value in them. In the end, they may be the wisest of us all.
10. Ex’s, creeps and parents Facebook is making it possible for people to be cyber stalked, even if they aren’t friends anymore, said Mr. Eston. Although the physical and virtual connections are broken, having mutual friends makes it easier for your ex to keep tabs on you. The same goes for any creepy guy or girl you are trying to avoid. Or you may get a friend request from a parent, which Mr. Wright claims many 20-something users consider the worst thing that could ever happen in the history of social networking. “That is a big driver for quitting,” he said. “Once the parent friends some of these people they immediately think ‘I’ve got to get out of this!”
What do you think?
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
-Updated 11-01-10- 
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