Many query 'how do I delete Facebook account'

Commentary: But privacy maelstrom won't deter most users

By Therese Poletti, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Facebook is in the eye of a storm.

And most of that tumult is of its own making. Ever since the social networking darling unveiled last month what it calls social plug-ins that share user "like" information with other websites, it has been a target of a new round of criticism and kvetching.

The Palo Alto, Calif. company has also come under attack by senators on Capitol Hill, and consumer privacy groups are asking the Federal Trade Commission to examine Facebook's privacy policies and disclosures.

Facebook delivered the most banner ads to users in the U.S. in the first quarter of the year, pulling ahead of Yahoo for the first time, according to market research firm comScore. Jessica Vascellaro has details.

In a complaint requesting the FTC to investigate, the Electronic Privacy Information Center called Facebook's business practices "unfair and deceptive." See Facebook news here.

Closely held Facebook is on the defensive. Its vice president of communications and public policy, Elliot Shrage, who joined Facebook from Google Inc. responded to questions on the New York Times Bits blog on Tuesday. One takeaway, amid an acknowledgment that "we are not doing a good enough job communicating the changes" was this advice: "If you are not comfortable sharing, don't."

It's a point everyone who is on Facebook should consider.

Many Facebook users are now looking at their privacy settings and Googling themselves to see what non-friends can see about them on Facebook via the Internet. And many people appear to be looking up how to delete their Facebook profile. On Wednesday, the fifth suggestion in Google when you start to type in "how do I" is "how do I delete my Facebook account."

But for all those who are complaining, it's not likely that more than a small minority of its now 400 million-plus users will actually stop using the addictive social network anytime soon.

For people who like to share photos, videos, messages and invitations with groups of friends, it's hard to imagine going back to the tedious process of sending out group emails, looking up birthdays, searching address books and -- gasp -- making actual phone calls to check in with friends.

"We don't see much evidence that people are streaming off Facebook," said Augie Ray, a Forrester Research analyst. "I've only seen a couple of people who have announced that they have deleted their Facebook account. It doesn't seem like a wave to me."

It's still too early to tell if Facebook's torrential growth will take a hit, but some analysts see that as unlikely this time around. Its last privacy kerfuffle, around the Beacon system that alerted friends to your purchases and other activities, drew lots of attention and apologies and changes from Facebook. Last year, Facebook shut Beacon down as part of a class action lawsuit settlement, but its growth continued to soar.

As recent proof that it's also becoming a factor in the Internet advertising area, comScore Inc. said on Tuesday that Facebook jumped ahead of Yahoo Inc. quotes for the first time delivering more banner ads in the U.S. than any other website publisher. Read Wall Street Journal story on comScore news.

Facebook itself is touting impressive numbers of websites using its new plug-ins. On Tuesday, it said over 100,000 websites have adopted Facebook's instant personalization features.

For example, if you visit the ABC News website, you can see the number of people on Facebook who like a particular story. If you are also logged into Facebook at the same time, you get a more detailed view on the ABC site of who among your friends like certain stories. (A popular story among my friends is "Quitting Facebook, What happens when you deactivate?")

But Facebook is walking a fine line. On the one hand, it hosts a treasure trove of data on the personal preferences and "likes" of its users for advertisers, which is how it generates revenue. On the other hand, it touts itself as a safe neighborhood where people go to hang out with their friends.

"They need to make their social data accessible to other systems and advertisers to monetize this whole repository of data," said Ray Valdes, a Gartner Inc. analyst. But they also need "to preserve the quality of the user experience...There are conflicting motives and incentives that Facebook has to deal with. This tension will continue to happen."

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which describes Facebook's "eroding privacy policy" on its website, Facebook's privacy policy has "transformed into a platform where much of your information is public by default."

Facebook probably doesn't really want users to activate all the settings that make a profile more private and less public. The settings get more complex with each change Facebook makes. (Among the onslaught of stories on how to adjust your privacy settings, The Business Insider has a good post, with screenshots of the lengthy process.) See Business Insider post about how to protect your Facebook privacy.

How Facebook fares through these latest privacy issues may determine its future growth and its eventual initial public offering.

"It could be the beginning of a chronic affliction to the Facebook brand," Valdes said. "If that starts to stick to the brand, that might have some damaging effects over the long term."

Therese Poletti is a senior columnist for MarketWatch in San Francisco.