MoveOn Takes On Facebook

MoveOn Takes On Facebook

By Sarah Wheaton

MoveOn.org is turning its organizing prowess on one of the very tools it uses for its mobilizing efforts. The liberal group’s Civic Action division mounted an effort today against Facebook’s Beacon advertising feature, claiming it infringes user privacy and “sullies” social networking communities.

MoveOn is objecting to a new advertising technique that Facebook started a few weeks ago that posts members’ purchases and activities on other websites in their Facebook profiles. Users can choose not to have the information posted from individual sites, or “opt out,” whereas with most Facebook applications associated with external sites, users must proactively choose to participate, or “opt in.” With the Beacon feature, if a user does not specifically decline participation, his or her Facebook friends will get a “news feed” notice about the purchase.

In an approach not that unusual on the social networking site, MoveOn has created a Facebook group to protest against Facebook, complete with link to MoveOn’s petition encouraging Facebook to “respect privacy.”

MoveOn is not anti-Facebook. Adam Green, a spokesman for MoveOn Civic Action, said his group is trying to “preserve the integrity” of the site.

“Facebook and similar sites have the potential to really revolutionize how we speak to each other in our society,” Mr. Green said. “When people see their privacy violated, it sullies the entire thing.”

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http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/moveon-takes-on-facebook/