The author of this article should note that this only applies to Facebook users that have decided to "take advantage of" Facebook Places checkins, which is entirely optional.

Common Sense Reminder: Nothing's really free.

"only applies to Facebook users that have decided to "take advantage of" Facebook Places checkins,"

No, as stated in the article, it also applies to the "Like" application.

Sure, that's also optional but is certainly more widely used and generally more useful, since a user often can't see the entire content of a business-related page until they "Like" it.

Ah, sorry I must have glossed over that because I don't usually promote brands voluntarily (and for free) by "Like"ing them. I do, however visit companies websites, email them, or call them if I need more information about their business.

Don't want to participate in this? Easy.

1. Don't check in using Facebook. Use Foursquare if you must.
2. Don't "like" any companies

Done.

If this is successful, you don't think Foursquare will follow suit?

I'm becoming rather glad I kicked my facebook account some time ago.

I may have successfully combated this by liking things whose popularity is debatable or from eras past. I'll keep on liking things that people don't care about if there can be a sponsored story like "Souper Crackers is going to watch Maude tonight at 6, same as every other night."

This can be combatted in 2 ways:

1. turn off places

2. get a grass roots movement going that posts nastiness tagged with brands. If it's considered a problem by the majority this will effectively make the feature too unprofitable for businesses to participate.

Personally I don't have a problem and echo the sentiment of needing to understand what goes to Facebook becomes public record.

What happens in Facebook definitely doesn't stay there. Be careful what you type there or on any other social media site. Now, if I can just follow my own advice.

Fuck Facebook in the face.

Very true. Anything you input on Facebook is fed to advertisers.

I also worry they don't actually delete data, ever. Not even after you remove it from your profile. When I signed up years ago, I used a couple of webmail address books to find people. Those lists included a lot of college acquaintances and random classmates I had no desire in befriending, so I skipped them. It's been 3 years and it still randomly recommends me people from those lists. Creeps me out! I barely even sign in there.

I also wish they'd let people create a "nickname" for the Facebook Connect service. I'm not all that interested in letting people know my real name so openly.

Facebook never deletes anything, ever. They store everything you ever enter on there, emails, photos, comments & it is saved in multiple locations. a comment you write on someone's wall is saved on your profile & on their wall forever. the only way to get things deleted is to violate their TOS & even then i'm not convinced it's deleted.

People just need to understand that what they put on Facebook is the product that Facebook sells to advertisers. You're the piece of meat, not the person buying the meat.

Um... if you don't want to promote something then DON'T MAKE A POST ABOUT IT. The situation doesn't seem nearly as dire as the headline or the article makes it seem.

Personally I do find that Facebook provides me a vital and important service, and frankly I would love for them to get paid for it. I remember reading a few years ago that despite the massive buzz and hundreds of millions of users, Facebook simply wasn't generating as much revenue as people expected due to the difficulty of finding organic, unobtrusive ways to sell ad space. If this is the way they're doing it, good for them. At least it's better than the adbots guessing my interests based on that one jacket I bought six months ago.

Then again, maybe I'm just one of those sell-out millennials who finds that "being down on the man is so retrograde." But here's a question for you: if I didn't like Facebook and want them to do well, why would I be using the site in the first place?

Facebook is valued at almost 50 *b*illion dollars. They are getting paid for it just fine. They need not sell any ad space, they will make their money by selling the information they collect about its users. And the adbots are the same adbots that will be generating these ads.
Certainly millennials, sell outs or not, have a different perspective of privacy than other generations. It's not about facebook "doing well" it's about them "doing the right thing". Not allowing people to opt out is far from a best practice.

"For example, if your privacy settings exclude certain friends from seeing content you post, those friends will not see Sponsored Stories created from these posts."

OK. I have absolutely no problem with that. Those people who choose to leave their privacy settings set at the default "show everything to everyone" settings are making that choice; those that want to lock down more can do so. Those who want to notify people about every move they make through their daily lives are free to do so; those who don't, don't have to. People wanting to give their names, home towns, email addresses, phone numbers, parents' and siblings' names, and on and on have that ability but anyone who chooses not to can go that way.

So what's wrong with this system? I guarantee no one will ever find out anything about me via Facebook that I don't want them to.

What if someone you know discloses something about you that you wouldn't necessarily disclose yourself? (This happened to me just a couple of days ago and it was very irritating).

There's nothing on my Facebook account that I'd worry about. Especially not my actual name. Sure, someone who knows me could reveal something independent of what I have made available on Facebook, but there's nothing new about that. They could have done the same to my grandpappy, gossiping down at the barber shop on the corner.

What exactly is the purpose of using facebook under a pseudonym? How do you connect with anyone on there if you are not the person they know you to be?

Don't use WiFi at Starbucks then.

If you need to work on your next screen play, do that shit at home and pay for internet access. There's nothing at Starbucks that will inspire you.