During his talk at the Consumer Electronics Show, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed the theme of privacy, as it relates to his company. “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people,” Zuckerberg said. “We view it as our role in the system to constantly be innovating and be updating what our system is to reflect what the current social norms are.” I’m getting dizzy, because that logic is totally circular!

Facebook is a successful business, built on getting people to put information on its website. When more users update their profiles with phone numbers, relationship statuses and pictures of themselves vomiting, there’s more information on Facebook, and therefore Facebook becomes more valuable. I see the above quote as saying, “Facebook has become successful at coaxing private information out of people, so now the social norms of ‘privacy’ have changed. We will continue to innovate in the field of getting more people to give us their formerly private information.”

It’s kind of like a cigarette manufacturer saying the definition of “healthy” has changed, because more people have decided to smoke their cigarettes.

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