Forget Google, these guys are the new Microsoft.
> Forget Google, these guys are the new Microsoft.
I wrote something about this recently. I think the reason why Google and Facebook are acting very differently can be explained in good part by the kind of incentives that they face (they're very different):
http://michaelgr.com/2010/02/15/why-google-is-not-like-micro...
'whoops we're getting bad publicity, how do we deal with this bad publicity yet still cream all these profits by compromising our userbase's privacy, we need some innovative marketing strategies here people'
how likely is the following scenario? :
'well, actually, we have been kind of assholes on the whole privacy issue. Let's respect people a little more. Sure, we might not cream as much profit from it, but the world might actually be a better place as a result'
My two cents: FB is set out to collect as much social info about as many people as possible. Probably they have much more data about the folks than we know and that can seen through FB site or API. Their problem is that they cannot openly sell/share that data with partners. So they need to get to the point where they can argue legally (guessing this will end up in court at least here in Europe) that the members have permitted them to collect all that info.
On the other hand, Facebook's recent privacy changes have (presumably) come from the top. So if they call an all-hands meeting, it seems like it can only be to either say "we've changed our minds", or "the public are wrong, and we won't change our minds". I can't see much of an actionable outcome for FB staff, unlike after the MS meeting.