Let’s take Facebook as an example and discuss why they are so valuable. A $15 Billion valuation that is! Facebook identified a niche. They specifically targeted university students. Once they got enough University students at one campus, it started spreading virally. It’s more of a clique mentality than anything else. If you get enough people within the same network or group to adopt a standard, then the game is over. University students felt like Facebook was that one ideal platform where they could share their information with a trusted source, their classmates. Privacy was the secret sauce in this scenario, and of course user control comes hand in hand with that. Privacy in general is becoming a huge concern for many on the web today. When Zuckerberg addresses data portability he says “Granular control over degrees of openness are vital to making openness viable”. He is essentially proclaiming that we need to convince our users that they don’t have to share everything. This is why the news feed almost destroyed Facebook when it was released. All the users were too caught up in the fact that their data was being shared. From Facebook’s perspective, their data was always accessible, now it’s just being displayed in more places. I can go to a friend’s profile and see they ended their relationship, or added more photos; however now I don’t have to click on every one of my friend’s profiles every day to be updated about this type of thing. Privacy issues were raised and Facebook responded. Now the newsfeed is very popular.

When Beacon was announced, not many people heard about it, or seemed to care until in directly affected them. In Zuckerberg’s awkward 60 minutes interview, the fact that Beacon actually told one of his users that their boyfriend had just purchased a diamond ring was brought up. This basically ruined the surprise of the engagement for the poor girl. This is a very broad example; however, I do believe that Facebook has crossed the line with Beacon. It’s no longer about data being put in more places. It’s about data being shared that wasn’t meant to be shared, a commercialized advertising model. Users freak out about sensitive information being made accessible to people they don’t trust. Just look at all the social aggregators popping up. The major issue is, as a user, I have to trust that all my different social site credentials aren’t going to leak into the hands of someone that could potentially do harm with them. Some people use different passwords on every site for this reason.

Another major player in this discussion is the mobile development community. Cell phones pose as one of the most intimate objects an individual owns. Just think about all the times you have been in a cell phone shop and seen people screaming at the rep over lost data. Think about all the Facebook groups regarding users that dropped their phones in water and lost all their contacts. Losing this type of data is very stressful because not many people keep backups of their device. When you ask a user to type in their phone number, so you can send them a file you are posing a threat. Some users may think you could be sending a virus to their phone, or you are going to share their number with a bunch of telemarketers. Some may be scared of getting huge data usage bills from their carrier. The easiest way to accomplish this is to gain the user’s trust on your main site before you give them that option. By developing a site with intense privacy options and allowing your users to control where their content is shared, you can make a lot of people feel much more comfortable. This will inevitably make you superior to sites that ignore the concerns. Remember – Users first, monetization later; because without users, you won’t make jack.

Your Favorite Web 2.0 Guru,

Zach Hurst
Contributing Editor from--
www.1dawg.com