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Facebook’s “Beacon” feature has been receiving a lot of flack lately. What is it? Facebook has a feeds capability within the site that broadcasts user activity to friends of users, depending on how individual users have their privacy settings configured. Beacon is a new feature which reports purchase activity within the available feeds. So what’s the issue? Users do not want other people to know what they buy Online. The Beacon feature is also automatically added to user accounts, not as a single opt-in feature, but as an automatic feature. People were upset. What’s the reaction from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg? Zuckerberg issued an open apology for doing so. This is his second mass apology within the life of Facebook. Facebook a fairly new social network. How long will it last? There’s no telling. Is it just another trend? Maybe. But maybe it will last a while. Is Zuckerberg’s apology more than a corporate PR move? It seems as though the features of Facebook continuously push the envelope when it comes to user privacy. When it goes too far, Zuckerberg issues an apology. I do commend Zuckerberg for stepping up to take direct responsbility for the issue. When customer service must be impecable, this does show that Zuckerberg pays attention to user feedback. Granted, there have only been two so far, but with apology after apology, is credibility and sincerity an issue? Would it be a better option to consider user feedback and modify Facebook accordingly without issuing apologies? Or should Zuckerberg continue with protocol in these situations if he wants to save face?
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