back to article Zuckerberg's Google boycott reaches 32 days (and counting)

On the stage, there were three chairs. And just off stage, there were three men deeply obsessed with online social networking: Dave Morin of Facebook, Kevin Marks of Google, and Joseph Smarr of Plaxo. As they waited for their afternoon panel discussion on the ins and outs of their respective social gizmos, Mr. Plaxo turned to …

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  1. amanfromMars Silver badge
    Alien

    Talking Shop ......

    "And when Marks reiterated that Friend Connect lets users choose privacy setting on the fly, "

    Is "on the fly" being redefined?

  2. This post has been deleted by its author

  3. Juillen
    Stop

    Facebook Privacy?

    This is the same site that lets you develop a random app, and siphon off all the available private data of someone that uses it, just to answer some simple three question "test" that invariably tells you that you're kermit the frog?

    And tried to harvest all your personal data to give to marketers?

    Is "Dynamic Privacy" just another way of saying "It's ok when we ignore our user's privacy. It's not when you do it, so privacy concerns are dynamically adjusted depending on who's doing the snooping."

  4. Ash
    Pirate

    Google *Connect, facebook *Connect*, same market segment...

    I see both sets of lawyers positively drooling at the prospects...

  5. Joris Willems
    Thumb Down

    Lock-in strategy

    Facebook is a disgrace for the other people's rights in every aspect. They do not respect privacy, they do not play fair competition, they do try to lock you in to there system.

  6. Steve

    You can't really blame Facebook

    They've only got one commodity and they're desperately trying to work out how to make money from it.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Pots and kettles

    Facebook are moaning about Google violating their privacy policy? I thought they both used the same principle: "All your information is belong to our advertisers."

  8. Piers

    This [Google kerfuffle] comes down to user control and user privacy.

    >This [Google kerfuffle] comes down to _user_control_ and user privacy.

    Oh yes, that's EXACTLY it in a nutshell. Facebook wants to control their users!

    Not let them leak out all over other people's social networks.

  9. Chris E

    Violation of privacy

    How is this different from the opposite case, of facebook prompting you for your gmail password so that it can go into gmail and mail all your contacts with invites?

  10. Stephen Gray

    Facebook

    Anyone who uses a so-called social networking site needs to get out more. Who cares, no really who the f*ck cares if they cant export their data?

  11. Andrew
    Thumb Down

    Ban facebook from gmail

    Facebook is one of these nasty little websites that tries to get your email password so that it can spread itself to other people - always makes me think of the plague for some reason.

    It seems ironic that facebook doesn't want Google to look at it's user base, when it has no qualms about leveraging gmail's. This suggests a pretty simple way for Google to retaliate.

  12. Charlie MItchell
    Thumb Down

    Why can't Google just bugger off?

    Is there nothing that they want to try and do? Damn right facebook should block them, why the hell not, one of the most secret companies on the Internet always sticking it's nose in where it's not wanted.

    Stick to what you're good at Google, doing web searches.

  13. Andy Turner

    I don't know why he bothers

    If I were Zuckerberg I'd just flog Facebook to the nearest idiot multinational desperate to be cool and then retire a multi millionaire and live the high life for the rest of my days. Why does he even want to consider getting into these wrangles?

  14. Craig
    Pirate

    Misled by the word 'boycott'!

    There was me thinking "32 days without using a Google product or service? Not bad, doesn't quite compare to my almost absolute Google abstinence over the years".

    Hopefully I'm not deviating from the original article content too much, I really do wonder what sort of impact it would have on Google if there ever was a 30 day boycott of their products and services. Some of you may find it awkward without your Google Search, Google Earth, YouTube, and a myriad of other services. I've comfortably avoided many Google offerings although I have to confess that I was a regular YouTube visitor prior to Google's purchase of the organisation.

    *sings*

    Imagine there's no Google

    It isn't hard to do

    You may say I'm a dreamer

    But I'm not the only one

    I hope someday you'll join us

    And the world will be as one

  15. Fuion
    Boffin

    @Talking Shop ……

    "Is “on the fly” being redefined?"

    ---> One can only hope.

  16. Chris Cook
    Alien

    don't care anymore....

    Perhaps we should ban the use of the term 'social-networking' and replace it with the more accurate 'time-wasting'.

    Seriously, if I want to socialise, I go outside...

  17. tim

    For the first time when reading a reg article

    I just can't bring myself to care

  18. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    Doesn't matter anyway

    Facejunk & Co will soon be bankrupt anyway. If not by lack of income, the lawyer fees will do them in for sure.

  19. SpitefulGOD
    Gates Halo

    Why do google assume they can muscle in on everyone's site?

    F*** 'em

  20. Solomon Grundy

    Gay

    This whole thing is gay. Facebook is a waste of human energy, and money. The only good part about all those "social networking" sites is that they increase my chances of meeting pretty girls at the pub because Billy "I am Root" Cockblocker is at home talking to some emo slag on chat.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    RE: Facebook

    Why, oh why, would you want to start spreading you contact lists around the internet? Have'nt these people ever heard of SPAM?

    You've got to be a bit of sad muppet in the first place to feel the need to use facebook etc, without starting to play the "look at the size of my friends list" game on other sites as well.

    My friends, family, colleages acquantences all have my email address and phone number and can contact me 24x7. Facebook et al are no better than PHORM, they only difference is you get spam instead of banner ads.

    </rant>

    To prove my point, I created a new email address solely to register with facebook a while ago, and never used it anywhere else. Guess what I get about 20-30 items of spam to that address everyday.

  22. ShaggyDoggy

    Whose data is it anyway

    Surely in a normal world the data belongs to the user who

    input it, not to Facebook, so the user can do what they like

    with it. But wait, this is Web 2.0 so there's probably some

    small print on page 93 of the Facebook user 'agreement'

    that states that everything you input they own, of course.

    Can I wait for Web 3.0

  23. Schroeder
    Gates Horns

    @the sad SpitefulGOD troll

    Ok - I'll bite -

    Why do Microsoft assume they can muscle in on everyone's computer?

    On the topic - the cynic in me presumes Facebook would like some money from Google to allow them to integrate, without paying any cash themselves for their use of gmail.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Does anyone else like the Irony

    Of facebook and google arguing about privacy.

    Facebook, who steal your data hidden behind an impossible set of T's and C's. They then freely hand out your data to anyone who writes a mickey mouse web app to get you to play pirates vs ninjas. Google, who secretly store everything you have ever done on the interweb in a huge server farm, and relentlessly mine that data to squeeze every penny they can in advertising revenue out of you; and also actively play with their search settings to fraudulently drag every penny they can out of the companies advertising with them.

    Hmm - which one should be fed to the dogs first?

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    @Craig

    Perfect circle.. nice song :)

    *jumps off to check gmail and click banner-ads while googling for Orwell*

  26. Joe

    Facebook...

    Is this the same Facebook that implores new users to hand over their Hotmail/Yahoo/Messenger/Gmail address and password so it can mine their account for data?

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    @Andy Turner

    it's simple, he get's into these things 'cos of his ego...it's all he's got

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    lol

    I love it how everyone pretends they haven't got a facebook account here.

  29. TMS9900
    Stop

    Isit me?

    I find I'm using the above subject line more and recently... I mean, IS IT ME?????

    In all seriousness, who in the name of Satans trousers GIVES A FUCK about Facebook?

    Get a fucking life. Billions of pages of shit that the entire world is resolutely and steadfastly not reading.

    You know how facebook can improve their carbon footprint? Turn all the fucking servers off and FUCK OFF HOME.

    Ahhh... I feel much better now.

    Also, I feel good that the 'world' is starting to wake up to the evil Google. It's funny how Microsoft was the company that everybody loved to hate, but now people are starting to wake up Google. There's something sinister about Google. It used to be fresh and cool, but for me, that's wearing thin, and I am aware that becoming wary, even a little scared (in an Orwellian 1984ish kind of way) of it. Who remembers the Poltergeist film where the little girl gets sucked into the telly? Feels kind of like that, don't you think?

    Can anyone suggest any good search engines? Years ago I always used Alta-Vista... Does it even exist still?

  30. Gabriel Speckhahn
    Joke

    @Isit me?

    "Can anyone suggest any good search engines? Years ago I always used Alta-Vista... Does it even exist still?"

    I don't know -- try googling it.

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