Facebook, privacy policy changes, chasing business models and the confusion over what “Like” really means.

Justin Kistner of Webtrends has been rocking it lately with his posts about the Facebook “Like” button and the powers that it implicitly grants content publishers without users really knowing what’s going on.

In short, clicking “like” means a lot more than you think it does.

Like, did you know that clicking “Like” on a blog post gives the publisher of that blog post the ability to send you updates to your Facebook news feed?

I’m guessing no.

The implementation of new privacy policies and the implications of actions like “Like” have kicked up a pretty big storm lately. Deservedly so, in my mind.

There’s a lot of question about Facebook’s goals, but it really shouldn’t be that hard to understand; as outlined by Alan Patrick, via a comment on a GigaOm post,

The financial value of any user in a freeconomic service is the net present value of their future spend, and the more Facebook can expose of it to merchants and advertisers and Joe Public etc, the more of their valuation they can justify.

Yep. It’s really not that hard to understand. Ethan Bauley reiterates the point in a comment on Facebook privacy isn’t the issue:

The business model they appear to be pursuing makes Facebook’s interest to erode/obfuscate privacy *just* to the marginal point before which there would be a mass exodus. No more “privacy”, no less.

And Jason laid it out pretty great in a recent email on his email list about getting “Zuckerpunched”.

I believe this debate shows why users care about the business models behind the products, services, markets and communities we use without an obvious business model (i.e. an understanding of how they make money), and why these debates get so wild between people without an obvious vested interest: business models define how businesses operate. When companies change business models, their goals, strategies and tactics change, and the first people to be impacted are users.

Again, “free” has a cost. Someone pays for it, companies, users, society, etc. Saying it again, “What’s free today may not be free tomorrow.”

Facebook’s “Like” button and the privacy policy changes are examples of how Facebook is having to change operations to chase a business model. And by implementing changes without really telling users what these changes or new actions do, a backlash is inevitable. A lesson for all entrepreneurs…

And one small way it changed my website here? I installed the Facebook “Like” button soon after it came out, but once I realized the powers it gave content publishers without users realizing the impact of “Liking” something, I decided to disable the “Like” and simply go back to the share. Right choice? Dunno. But we’ll see…