A Social Network’s Faux Pas?

Greg Benedetto believes in the old adage "the customer comes first." He worked for Canada's HMV record chain for two years as a teenager and, in that time, learned a thing or two about getting people to buy things. "A customer who is treated well probably won't say anything," he says. "But a customer who is treated poorly will tell everyone they know." And that is exactly what Benedetto plans to do if Facebook's new targeted ad campaign gets out of hand. Already Benedetto has invited all 562 of his Facebook friends to join the group Stand Up! Don't Let Facebook Invade Your Social Life With Ads!

Earlier this week the social networking site said it would enable advertisers to utilize its 30.6 million members' profile data to target ads tailored to their hobbies and preferences. Under the new "Social Ads" program, anyone who, for example, lists an interest in travel, will be served up ads for cheaper fares and hotels. On the company's blog, Facebook ads project manager Leah Pearlman defends the application, saying that "engaging with businesses and buying things are part of your everyday life." Pearlman says the new system will work to "make ads more appealing" to members.

But for Benedetto there is nothing appealing about Facebook mining his personal information for marketers. "I understand that it's just a part of life for this generation," says the 22-year-old Toronto native. "Companies want to know what they can sell to a male who is 22 and living in Toronto and reads certain books and listens to certain music. Google ads are much less invasive, because they change all the time. But when it comes to using my identity or my friends' identity to hawk a product, that's crossing the line."

Facebook maintains that it will not sell personal information to marketers. What it will do is compile users' "social actions"—edits they make to their profiles and information on the other sites they visit (which Facebook can now track via Facebook Beacon). The Web site will then sell marketers the option of reaching out to members whose social actions fit certain demographics. Facebook's executives declined to comment personally; they pointed us to an FAQ on its Social Ads program. (Facebook members can access it by clicking here.)

Despite claims that the Web site will not be selling users' personal information, members of groups like Stand Up! Don't Let Facebook Invade Your Social Life With Ads! are still concerned. In a Facebook message to NEWSWEEK, a member of that group who, concerned about privacy, asked not to be identified, wrote, "Personally, if it becomes too annoying, I may leave FB." Benedetto too says he will terminate his account if the ads become too invasive—a bold statement considering that, like most members of the Facebook generation, he uses the site every day.

Emily Riley, a social networking analyst for Jupiter Research, predicts that the number of Facebook members who leave the site as a result of Social Ads "is not going to be too substantial." If anything, Riley says, some members might choose to quit Facebook because all of its new applications, which she argues create the kind of "clutter" generally associated with MySpace. Riley says "Facebook should weigh the reasons why users might be leaving. However, it is an ad-supported site, so if a small group of users chose to leave, Facebook might have to make that sacrifice."