Facebook to curb frictionless sharing

Facebook Timeline apps.

/ Facebook

(CBS News) Tired of being pointed to the Washington Post reader or SocialCam app when clicking on a link in Facebook? Those "frictionless sharing" apps may be slowing down, according to a report by BuzzFeed.

Apparently, Facebook's manager of media partnerships, Andy Mitchell, told journalists at a Facebook and Social Journalism meetup in San Francisco that the social network is moving away from "passive sharing."

"Facebook moving away from passive sharing on Open Graph, Andy Mitchell says. User feedback was that signal not strong," @lheron tweeted from the event.

Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg introduced frictionless sharing and the Open Graph when he introduced the world to Timeline in September 2011. The feature lets members install apps like the Washington Post reader or SocialCam that would automatically share on Facebook what a person was reading or watching - even when not on the social network.

[ralphing]

The more I read about FB, the more I wonder what people see in it. I thought it was just a way to share pictures with your friends, while giving them a second by second account of your day, like what you ate for lunch and what time you had a bowel movement. I had no idea it also provided your friends with important information like what you read all day. My day wouldn't be complete without knowing what all my friends read each day, so I can read it too. Lol

[Bojax39]

Frictionless sharing? How about frictionless spying? Frictionless stalking? Doesn't anybody realize things like Facebook can be used to profile you right down to what you had for lunch and what color underwear you prefer?

Those dumb enough to allow Facebook onto their computers and into their lives deserves whatever happens to their privacy as a result.

Same goes for the Twitter twonks and those idiotic enough to allow sensitive personal data into any cloud.

Kudos to Andy Mitchell for having the brains to neuter Facebook's spyware a bit.