Anyone remember MSN Spaces? It was Microsoft's mid-Aughts attempt at social media. At one point, an enraged reader wrote me to complain that Microsoft had lent out her personal information and picture to Match.com, which used that information in an "This chick wants to meet you!" ad ultimately seen by her husband. Good stuff.
This isn't quite as bad, but it's pretty bad. On Facebook, I saw that the following had occurred:
- A colleague had posted a link to our product's "Tell us how Ronco Klugeomatic has changed your life" contest.
- Another colleague (and our mutual Facebook friend) had Liked it.
CUT TO: NEXT DAY
INTERIOR—JOHN'S HOME OFFICE
THE CAMERA ZOOMS IN ON JOHN'S IM WINDOW.
"Hey John, are you aware that your Facebook comment was automatically published to the product's web page?"
No. No I was not.
"No. No I am not. What retard thought that was a good idea?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean....have you ever seen Facebook? You don't port unmoderated comments to your product's web page. What if I said the product sucks ass and I posted a link to a competitor's product? Bam, there it is on klugeomatic.com"
"I don't, er, really see a problem..."
Ah. Clearly, I was dealing with the retard in question. But isn't it gratifying to know that what you think is a private Facebook comment to your friend is so easily republished, with direct attribution to you, without your knowledge, by the highest bidder?
Evil.