De-Friending Facebook

Art by Yuji Yoshimoto

Facebook has nearly 500 million active users, who are posting
1 billion photos and 25 billion pieces of information a month...
About 1 in 4 of all people who browse the Internet.

At this time of unprecedented growth, Facebook is also facing a user revolt over privacy issues. Thousands of users are threatening to delete their Facebook accounts on Monday, May 31st.

Dan Fletcher wrote about privacy concerns with Facebook in Time Magazine, and says despite the uproar, Facebook is here to stay.

Audio: BBC, PRI & WBUR's Here & Now 5/25/10. Host: Robin Young.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in an op-ed published in Monday’s Washington Post, said changes were on the way that would simplify Facebook users’ privacy controls. The PR effort isn't surprising given trouble with privacy bugs, FCC complaints, and grumbling Senators .

So will Zuckerberg’s promises matter in the long run?

Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, one of fifteen groups who complained to the FCC about Facebook’s privacy practices, and Susan Herring of Indiana University offer a rather bleak outlook for Facebook.

Audio: APM's Future Tense 5/25/10, Host: John Moe. see post for embedded audio