I'm seeing a lot of hysteria over Facebook privacy. It's nonsense, but the company is obliging and potentially ruining what people like about it. This may be a good time to stop and think things over.

First, if people really wanted complete privacy, they would not be on Facebook or social media in general. The public fell in love with Facebook because you can develop a feeling of community with your circle of "friends." It is particularly useful for keeping up with old pals and relatives. If you do not like any of its features, the answer is simple: do not use Facebook.

I do not use the product personally and never want to. That option is open to anyone. When I see the government getting involved with Facebook, I get concerned. What kind of nanny state wants to legislate all these rules?

That said, there are issues and they are indeed the fault of Facebook. There are not enough employees monitoring the site for fake accounts and pages advocating violence. Congress brought up some incidents that were not resolved fast enough, like pages that advocated killing Republicans. How hard would it be to take them down the next day? Facebook couldn't do it. Other radical examples abound and seem more important than the appearance of sketchy political ads purchased by a Russian troll farm.

Many modern Silicon Valley operations, from Facebook to Google to Twitter, face a common problem: terrible communication. None of these companies have anyone to call for help. If something goes astray, you fill out a form and wait. It's an insult to the users. Press inquiries are similarly frustrating; emails sent to generic press inboxes are often ignored.

The best example: Facebook recently took the biggest one-day stock market plunge of any company in the history of the stock market. It wasn't over much more than an earnings warning, but the stock plummeted. Was there not a crisis PR team on hand? How is it possible for a multi-billion-dollar, publicly traded operation to be that clueless?

But they all get away with it, so the approach is creeping over to companies such as Amazon. Microsoft is next, I bet. With their stocks skyrocketing, why bother? It's a weird, new disdain for the public at large exhibited by a lot of massive corporations pocketing billions.

If Congress and other complainers want to rake these companies over the coals, ask them why can't they afford good customer relations. Privacy protection is not the real issue.

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