LooseSuits

I'd actually say that, as Facebook has grown, it's done a pretty good job of doing things to protect users. Unlike, say, MySpace, the asshole of the Internet.

I think the other thing that must be considered is that, with social networking, it's a fairly new concept (still), and that means we're all just learning a bit about what matters to people, what is considered as having not shared enough information vs. having shared too much information. It usually comes down to giving users a vast array of choices, so they can choose what's best for them personally. Again, I'd say Facebook does pretty well for that (see privacy settings).

Also, while I think it is always the designers and developers' jobs to try to think ahead and protect users, full-proof their systems for a number of problems, I think the concept of security when it comes to social networking will always be somewhat of a burden held solely by the user. This is your personal information, and if you care about it, you will check how it gets used and to what extent you are protected. Because of the nature of social networking, it seems to me that it is only the site's job to provide ways for you to protect yourself, not to blindly enforce strict privacy settings on everyone, in an effort to protect them. Ironically, to do that would draw anger from users, too.

Most sites aren't evil, but some of their users are. They throw witches and goblins at you and try to buy you for low prices.

I wouldn't say that Facebook is evil.

I would say that Facebook is becoming the center of pointlessness. I think like a lot of people, I feel that every since they decided to put in third-party apps, everythings been going downhill from there.

In regards to security at least, I second what Lelia said. A lot of them depends on what people put up. If people are going to set their privacy settings so that the whole world can see their phone numbers, that's their fault, not the social networks.

Like governments, any social network can be great. It's just the people at the end of the day that determine whether it stays great, or sends it all to the burning pits of hell.

Facebook is a lot less evil than MySpace, mainly because the major issues that MySpace has faced (adults preying on young people's profiles) are enabled by MySpace allowing anyone to view anyone else's profile, unless you explicitly set it as private. Facebook doesn't allow this unless you're a friend, in their network, etc. You can't just view anyone's profile, and that helps a lot with the major privacy issues.

Social networks aren't evil. Social networks are only popular because millions of people are addicted to using them, so if they're evil, they're only evil because we as a people enabled them to become evil.

Social networks aren't evil. People are evil. Okay, not all people, but you get the gist. (What Mike said.)

What estarla said. And Mike. Thinking for myself, I'd say that it's important to pay close attention to your children's use of social networks -- weirdos are out there too.

So, in my family, I just say "no way" when my children ask. And anyway, they're not going to want to be on facebook, because I've beat them to it. I recently joined Facebook, because someone I like asked me to be their friend and it seemed rude to say no. Still, I'm finding the whole thing a little weird, as though there's some point I'm missing. One thing I've liked is reconnecting with people I went to college with. And it's another way to e-mail someone. Other than that, though, I'm not so sure.

But I only have 16 friends, so maybe something amazing happens when you have, say, 1600.

A company is only as good as the people running it. Evil is a harsh word but I would challenge the ethics of Facebook's upper management. Facebook has user problems along with a divide in agendas between the corporation and their users. MySpace has user problems - which all large communities of that type usually have.

I wonder if you guys have read the article in Guardian about Facebook, Peter Thiel and the CIA - it's ludicrous to the point of fiction, and yet ...

Well. Go read and evaluate for yourself. I enjoyed that piece. What do you think about it?