Do Not Betray Your Audiences

Implications: With his recent apologies, Mr. Zuckerberg had proven two things: 1) Facebook is incredibly successful and beyond expectations 2) Its advertising business model is unstable yet.

Analysis: Facebook is an incredible success from different points of view. First of all, it is amazing to see how fast the website grows.  Those young adults spend their life on Facebook exchanging and posting information.
 
I am not convinced that this success is totally controlled. It does not mean it is not deserved. It might even be the other way around. We have to acknowledge that Facebook is setting up new standards on communities' engagement. Facebook is joining Apple, Google, Nintendo and some others in the closed 'Trend-Setter' group.
 
Second, the depth of the website is increasing at an unbelievable speed. Recently, with the introduction of the Beacon advertising model, the site reached a new limit, though it might be unfortunately too far.
 
Members have signed a petition demanding to be consulted before their profiles could be accessible to advertisers. They are absolutely right. Privacy controls and spam protections are available on your PCs to prevent you from receiving too many unwanted advertisements. On the mobile phones, regulations are set up to ensure that your privacy is respected.
 
It should be the same on Facebook. People do not join Facebook to let their profiles get 'raped' and distributed freely to advertisers. Mr. Zuckerberg should know better than anyone that the community works IN the community, not outside of it. I have the right to share my profile and get money out of it ONLY if I want.
 
Promotions, advertisements are just some ways to get you the products you might need. They should not be used in an intrusive manner.
 
Hopefully, Facebook has learnt its lesson.

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