As a long overdue response to privacy concerns, and perhaps also to a new competitor on the move, Facebook announced on Tuesday a new series of privacy features, which aim to give users more control over their sharing content and to limit some information that other users can share about them, Fisher Capital Management News reported.
Privacy experts and advocates seemed pacified by the changes, saying they signify the awareness of Facebook that there are mounting concern regarding online prviacy, along with the competition posed by Google+.
It is almost certain that Facebook is responding to heightened attention from their own members concerning their privacy. But it is also inevitable to connect it with the emergence of Google+. Facebook is aware that 5 years ago, MySpace was THE social network and now that they’re holding the torch, they are intent on keeping it. Privacy is something that everyone, media, users and all, are paying close attention so they try to address it.
Instead of requiring a user to look into their settings to put a limit on who can see their status updates and photos they’ve shared, Facebook announced it will now place those options directly on the post controls.
In addition, Facebook will now also let users veto the tags that identifiy them on pictures shared by others. But users have to manually turn on the tag-blocking feature. Basically, other users can still post a photo of you anywhere sans your name.
These changes are expected to be visible to users starting Thursday, and will eventually reach Facebook’s 750 and so million users in the days to follow.
However, it’s not easy to convince users and observers, who commented on Facebook’s announcement, that their new features are made as an answer to Google+.
An analyst for social media in IDC, Michael Fauscette, seems inclined to think that Facebook is simplifying its privacy features which is generally a good indicator. Though, may Fisher Capital Management News note, it is interesting that all of this happened weeks after Google came up with Google+.
Conley of ACLU said that the alterations do not measure to a total privacy overhaul as they do not really address issues like user information being accessed by applications in Facebook.