As an exceedingly busy full-time college student, I'm all for social networking sites. I've heard people say countless times that anyone who uses a site like this is antisocial, but this just makes me wonder if they remember how difficult it can be to keep in touch with friends during finals or while studying abroad.

This isn't an issue of social networking sites per se; this is an issue of corporate greed and the advertising dollars business execs see when they find a new medium frequented by people in their target demographics. This was a bad idea, but, provided this serves as a learning experience for those involved and an insight into what customers of these sites will tolerate, social networking sites do still have merit.

Too bad I didn't have a facebook account.  I'd be swimming in some serious money right now for privacy infringements.  I wonder how many closet PERVERTS are being outed as we speak.  I think parole officers should have access to all their charges' facebook accounts....  parents should be able to keep a closer eye on their kids too.  Sounds like the Big Brother theory is going to come true without much hesitation... too bad everyone is so involved in getting to know people online that they have lost all form of integrity and self dignity.  

i still don't understand how they achieved gaining access to online purchases...what kindof access does Facebook have to our computers that they can see every website you look at?  Is it simple fishing programs that you can find and delete from your hard drive?  no one seems to ever explain exactly how this is done, or what kind of other important information they might be extracting.  doesn't seem totally legal to me.  if they can see a purchase, does that mean they can see credit card information, etc? gives me the creeps.

Just letting Facebook know that no public network company is so indispensable that they need to abuse the customer. It's only a matter of time before the smart people move on to the next BIG thing! Just like MySpace was abandoned, so will we abandon Facebook. STOP getting GREEDY!  and to Will...stiop promoting MYEEEOOS did you start it or somethin'?  Why can't anyone leave us alone and not fix what isn't broken for once?

I like facebook and I like the newsfeed so I can see what is happening with all my friends at a quick glance. If you dont want everyone you know to see what you've been doing, maybe you should delete them as your friend or just dont post stuff that you want to remain private.

Facebook is a great way to communicate with High School friends or long time friends. Only connect with the right social network. I think you guys are smart enough to ignore or block the people that you don't know. You could just put a little bit detail of yourself, or not put anything at all so no one would know more info about you. Don't blame facebook for anything else, because you have the choice to not use it, and use some other website for online socializing. Easy.

If you think "Facebook is backing away for real, you need to think again.  They're only laying a little lower for now.  They'll be back stealing privacy (and making money) as soon as they feel they can get away with it.  Notice Beacon isn't actually gone...Duh.

who says Beacon was a mistake?  They suckered Microsoft out of $240 million with it, didn't they?

i still don't understand how they achieved gaining access to online purchases

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Simple. They made a deal with the retailer. You buy stuff at Overstock. Overstock gives Facebook their sales information in exchange for advertisement on Facebook (the little ad that says "your-so-and-so-friend just bought gizmoA from Overstock".) Naturally, all of your facebook freinds will see the ad and go to Overstock and buy stuff also.

They're probably matching up what you buy at say Overstock with your account at Facebook based on the email address that you enter in when you make a purchase. So if you use a different email address than the one you use for your Facebook account, then they probably won't be able to spy on your purchases. (Just guessing, but that's how I'd do it.)

And no, they can't spy on purchases you make at Walmart!

Hmm - I wonder if this will make Facebook the next Friendster in 2008?  Friendster did somehting stupid a few years back and lost most of its users to MySpace. They were the leaders in the space until they too stepped over the line.