Mark Zuckerberg talking on Facebook (of course) about the change in their terms of use. He actually calls it a clarification, and I believe it is. The snippet below stood out for me as I read through Zuckerberg’s post:
In reality, we wouldn’t share your information in a way you wouldn’t want. The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work. Our goal is to build great products and to communicate clearly to help people share more information in this trusted environment.
On Facebook, People Own and Control Their Information | Facebook.
So I got to thinking: Who do I trust more, Facebook or Google? I’ve put off trying Google Latitude yet just because it’s one more avenue for Google to invade my space. Yes, yes, I’m inviting Google into my space. But by now, Google probably knows more about me than my mother (minus that incident sophomore year). Google sometimes gives me the creeps; Facebook does not. Maybe it’s because I am largely in control of the information I’m putting into Facebook, so I know what they can pull out. Not entirely the same with Google. I feel like there are boundaries around my Facebook experience, and I can go beyond those or not, at my discretion. I pretty much know what Mark Zuckerberg plans to do, at least at a high level. Google, on the other hand, seems all about breaking boundaries and connecting information whether I want it connected or not. Google’s overall intentions are still unknown, a giant galactic vacuum sucking up bits of me from here and there. And I’m not sure how they’ll piece it all together just yet.
So, we can’t really verify. Which means it does, in the end, come down to trust. It all made me think of, well, Ronald Reagan first…but then Elvis Costello:
“You said you’d stand by me in the middle of Chapter Three
But you were up to your old tricks in Chapters Four, Five and Six”
Dare ya to sing along with me.