It's a beacon alright

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:14:24 +0000

bea*con: noun:

a fire or light set up in a high or prominent position as a warning, signal

I've just been reading about Facebooks new "let's take on adwords" beacon advertising service. I'm not impressed.

It's prompted me to start asking what, if anything, Facebook has done for me. It has reconnected me to a few people I had lost touch with. But, honestly, I am (google willing) quite easy to find. If any of them really wanted to get in touch with they wouldn't have failed for the lack of Facebook. Facebook just made it convenient.

Beyond that Facebook has, largely, become an irritation with rafts of invitations to groups I don't want to join, events I don't want to go to, and applications that I have no idea if I want to use because they force me to sign up to them before telling me what they do.

I think I am going to take this Beacon announcement at face value. It's a warning that people like me probably aren't going to be happy with what's coming. I don't want to be monetized to pay back Microsoft for their investment.

Time to get out of dodge.

Curiouser and Curiouser! on facebook

It's a beacon alright