Comments on: Rough seas nearly sink Facebook's Beacon

After a rough couple of weeks and plenty of complaints, the social-networking site alters its controversial advertising program. But is it enough?

[innonate]

Awesome coverage

Hey Caroline,

You've been doing an excellent job covering this MoveOn / Facebook thing. A "tip of the hat" to you! (And a wag of my finger to Facebook!)

[jimchun]

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[Dean Donaldson]

A personal response

Well done that man!! I have written a personal reposnse to him:

http://deandonaldson.wordpress.com/2007/12/06/dear-mark-facebook-zuckerberg/

[noxfelis]

?THE DARK SIDE OF FACEBOOK, AKA, ?DISGRACEBOOK,? OR FACEBOOKS COMPLETE LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE?

The unaired dark side of Facebook, or should I call it ?Disgracebook? because of the extremely poor disgraceful way Facebook treats its members. The reason I say the unaired dark side of Facebook is I have yet to see anything announced on the prime time major news outlets about the disgraceful practices Facebook uses on its members. The Internet is bursting at its seems with unhappy disabled Facebook members who have posted thousands of complaints everywhere it is possible to post complaints about Facebooks complete lack of customer service and mean spirited disregard for concerns, questions and feedback from members and former members.

If anyone thinks Facebook is ?listening? to its members or advertisers or anyone wanting to communicate with them, they simply DO NOT know what they are talking about! Facebook ruthlessly, rigorously, relentlessly, and remorselessly walks all over its members with hob nailed boot polices of culling members from membership for unspecified unknown reasons and then accuses the permanently disabled unacceptable members as ?possibly? being guilty of spamming or ?possibly? being guilty of harassing other members because of asking too many members to be friends at an unspecified rate. Facebook goes on to permanently disable unacceptable members accounts that have too many friends, belongs to too many groups, pokes too many unknown times, sends too many email messages and on and on and on. The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, says that Facebook members seem to take a ?personal ownership? of their Facebook accounts. Well, golly gee Mark, Facebook is supposedly a SOCIAL Internet program that people join to meet and make new friends. Making new friends, at least to me, is personal and publishing real photographs and genuine personal information on Facebook seems personal to me. Maybe you should say in your rules and regulations that Facebook wants members to be real and genuine but do not join Facebook for personal reasons and do not expect to be treated in a true genuine caring manner because Facebook does not care in the least about what you think or how you feel. When Facebook says you are guilty of breaking polices you will be treated with complete lack of respect in an impersonal sterile manner and declared unacceptable and permanently banned from Facebook without recourse.

On Mark Zuckerberg?s Facebook Fan Page Mark states ?I?m trying to make the world a more open place by helping people connect and share.? I am glad Mark says he is ?trying etc.? because, in my opinion, he certainly has NOT accomplished his mission. Facebook is one of the most closed undemocratic uncaring unsocial business operations since the formation of the Gestapo. Facebook operates carte blanche without regard of a due process of rights for members Facebook deems unacceptable to be a member of its supposed Internet social network service and therefore, disables their account without warning. Facebook justifies its policy and actions under the euphemism of ?protecting members? from ?repeated actions that COULD BE CONSTRUED as spam,? and from anything Facebook makes up to be a threat to its security. Although Facebook publishes what it SAYS are its rules and regulations, Facebooks security is a computer program of unpublished nonspecific rules and regulations that are enforced by an automated, autocratic, uncaring broadly defined bureaucratic computer program that members violate without knowing it and then booted out of Facebook. If this is not Gestapo like policy, I guess I do not know what it is because it certainly is un-American to say the least!

Furthermore, in my opinion, Facebook is NOT a Internet ?social network service.? When joining Facebook you are, in reality, joining an Internet money making ?computer advertising program? that is set up to look like a Internet ?social network service? for the public. In essence, the Internet ?social network service? is a screen or cover for a ?computerized advertising? empire designed with one thing in mind, the bottom line profits for Facebook investors. I am all for investors making a profit and if the investors will wake up they can increase their profits by paying attention to the consumer members of Facebook. As it stands now, the consumer is NOT king on Facebook. Facebook can at any time without having to explain its decision declare any member persona non grata. Is it any wonder Facebook members are treated with total disregard for being feeling thinking real people? I have yet to know of a computer program that is able to feel and or to reason. When placing a phone call to Facebook you are treated rudely and crassly informed to use their computerized automated services, which do not reply when used or quickly transferred to an automated answering service to which there is no reply.