Too Much Information (TMI)
I recently had a conversation with Ricochet's publisher in which we discussed the pros and cons of the Washington Post's social reader. For those not familiar with the Facebook app, the social reader tracks every story you read on WaPo's site and displays it on your Facebook wall (and in your friends' Facebook feeds) for all to see. After you agree to use the app, you're never again asked whether you want to "share" the article; the social reader will share it automatically without troubling you. For instance, I see that Claire Berlinski recently read–surprise, surprise!–an article titled "Turkey is accused of using chemical weapons against Kurdish soldiers" in the Washington Post.
In my conversation with Ricochet's publisher, I argued that I found the app compelling; seeing the list of my friends' recently read articles compels me to read the articles myself. If I like and admire a certain Facebook friend, I read the article so that I can see what they find fascinating. If I think a certain friend has a head full of silly ideas, I read the article so that I can secretly judge that friend and relish a moment of smug condescension. Either way, I'm reading the articles that are passively shared. This, I argue, is an app that Ricochet might want to look into.
"Frankly, I find it all too creepy," Ricochet's publisher responded. The idea that every page you open up and take a passing glance at would be tracked and shared with the world just seems to cross a line, he explained. "Consider too," he continued, "that many of Ricochet's Members are red dots in blue blobs. They're certainly not going to want to publicize every politically-charged post they read on their Facebook walls."
And so for the time being, we've tabled the conversation.
That conversation, however, raises the question of what's appropriate to share with one's friends and contacts on Facebook, and what constitutes too much information (TMI). I have no problem with the idea of folks sharing their reading activity with the world (though I wouldn't choose to do so myself), nor do I mind if folks feel the need to share the track information to each and every song they listen to throughout the day (using apps like Spotify, for example). But I do find it obnoxious to see status updates that recount each and every calorie consumed in a day. And while I'm happy to hear of friends' decisions to grow their families, I find play by plays of recent OB/GYN appointments and thorough descriptions of the day's morning sickness to be distasteful.
Everyone has a line in their mind's eye between what's appropriate to share on a public forum like Facebook, and what's not. The problem, I think, is that there's no consensus about where this line exists.
- Comment (30)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
Comments:
Sep '11
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
I would strongly advocate against using anything like the Social Reader.
The Social Reader, when you sign up, asks you for permission to read every little detail of your Facebook existence: your friends, their email addresses, and so forth. Their privacy policy (which does not legally bind them to anything, anyway) says that they will use any information you provide them--including personally-identifiable information--for marketing and other commercial purposes. They explicitly include selling your contact name, email address, and article usage patterns to commercial list brokers.
Facebook apps are essentially trojan horses--sign up for Farmville, and give somebody the email address of everyone you know. The Social Reader is worse--it's one thing for a marketer to know that you waste time playing an inane game; it's something else to develop an email list of people who read Jennifer Rubin or Charles Krauthammer and their friends.
This is a really, really bad idea.
Dec '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
"If I think a certain friend has a head full of silly ideas, I read the article so that I can secretly judge that friend and relish a moment of smug condescension."
This is great.
May '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
I read a ton, and share the 1-2% of things I think my friends will find interesting or persuasive. If your friend manually shared on his Facebook page every single article he read on news sites, wouldn't you put him on your block list? If it's automated doesn't it just become spam?
Anyway, don't you want to be able to indulge your morbid curiosity by reading about the Sanitation Department cleaning out the trash-filled 250-cat house in otherwise pleasant suburban neighborhood in private, without your friends and coworkers thinking you are really into that kind of stuff?
Edited on November 21, 2011 at 10:37pmAug '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
Please don't. Especially not in any way related to Facebook. I suspect I'm not the only one who'd leave.
Diane Ellis, Ed.:
"Frankly, I find it all too creepy," Ricochet's publisher responded. The idea that every page you open up and take a passing glance at would be tracked and shared with the world just seems to cross a line, he explained. "Consider too," he continued, "that many of Ricochet's Members are red dots in blue blobs. They're certainly not going to want to publicize every politically-charged post they read on their Facebook walls."
He's right. It's creepy. And more trouble than it's worth for some red dots.
Edited on November 21, 2011 at 10:34pmJun '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
I agree with Ricochet's publisher and John Murdoch. If I see an article that I think is worth sharing with my friends on Facebook or here on Ricochet, then I'll post the link myself. I have absolutely no desire to have some piece of software automatically post a link to every article that I open up to read.
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
Not yet. Perhaps because most people don't read all that much...
But I do like seeing what the people I know are reading. It's a filter of sorts.
Oct '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
This is a very bad idea on more levels than one wants to go. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Nov '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
If you are curious about what your friends are reading, why not ask them? Peering through a keyhole is just weird.
Mar '11
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
I draw the line at Facebook... the appeal of which I simply do not get.
Aug '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
Facebook freaked me out after one week.
People can only educate themselves after a certain age, to presume differently seems fascist.
But I grow old, and shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
TMI bigtime.
And the women come and go tweeting about Michelangelo ?
Jun '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
Ditto. I have family members who love it (yes, they're all younger than me). I've told them that if there is something about them I need to know, they can call, email, or even text me. I follow no one on Facebook, and although I have an account (my daughter set it up for me), I'm not certain I've ever seen it.
I love some people, and like a lot more. Frankly, however, I don't care what they may be thinking at any given moment and I'm certain they feel the same about me.
May '11
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
Creepy is an understatement.
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
More on this topic over at The Atlantic Wire:
The 'Freaky Line' and Where Facebook is Headed
Jun '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
I'm with Mark Wilson. My curiosities go into so many disconnected directions, that I'd rather not broadcast that to the world. I still don't understand the limits this new feature would have. I go to hundreds of websites in a week. Who would want to know that and how would such a large list be posted somewhere efficiently? I guess I'd need to know more, but I don't like the sound of it so far. Ricochet, for me, is a tight community, not the next chapter in Reality TV.
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
I'd rather you ponder whether I'm not well read than have you see my reading list and remove all doubt.
Like Mark Wilson, I probably click on a few stories that I wouldn't want people thinking I was so taken by that I just had to share it.
Let's say I do click on all the "features and faces" stories on FoxNews.com. Do you think I want all of you to know that?
Nov '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
When I first joined Facebook, I posted links to a few conservative articles (ones I thought were just so well argued that my liberal friends might actually rethink issues). I later found out that as far as they were concerned, I had over-shared. They'd probably have been much less shocked if I had put up seriously personal information. So, yes, it is probably true that we red dots in blue areas sometimes need to keep our politics quiet.
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
This is a compelling argument against having anything to do with Facebook.
May '11
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
This reminds me: I need to close my Facebook account.
Aug '10
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
This should be warning enough. And how many of us swim in and out of Google's net everyday ?
Apr '11
Re: Too Much Information (TMI)
As for this red dot in a blue blob, I occasionally share articles to Facebook for all my progressive and conservative friends and family to see. The liberals rarely, if ever, comment. I have no idea whether they read it or not -- I highly suspect they don't and use ignore functions on certain apps. I think by liberal friends and family accept my Conservatism as if I were the friendly drunk. "I like C.U., he's a decent guy, but sometimes he reads too much."
That said, I prefer the option to decide whether I share or not.
Edited on November 22, 2011 at 12:52am