On how sticky is members of Facebook...

One time, I read somewhere (I think it's BusinessWeek) about the snafu of Facebook in its Beacon ad system. In that original blog, there were many, myself included, who blasted Facebook. Still, there were others who were more than willing to stick around with Facebook, and spoke glowingly about Facebook. At least that's what they claimed they would do.

So now, when we read more about the ever more invasiveness and intrusiveness of Facebook, including the inability of REALLY deleting an account with Facebook, people flare up again. There are forums and activist groups devoted to this disenchanted groups of members who try to cut their ties with Facebook, but couldn't.

Truth be told, much of other websites, merchants, and corporations have been doing what Facebook does, namely, they don't really delete your account, even if you request it. Just ask Paypal, or eBay. Afterall, once you enroll, the websites pretty much "own" you. They can track you with cookies, they can check where you're logging in from, they can save your clickstreams. You name it. Like me, I have seven Paypal accounts, because they would not allow me to delete those old Paypal accounts with old bank accounts. Is there anything you could do? Not really. Like I said, you click Accept to their terms and conditions (however many pages and small the prints are) when you sign up for it, and this is what you get.

But for some reason, Facebook has a much higher propensity to get busted. Sometimes, I wonder out loud if it has something to do with the smugness of its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. I have to say it upfront that I have nothing against kids (yes, kids) who get rich on the internet. See, the thing is, somehow I just couldn't stand the smugness, every time I see him speak or in the news.

I know, I know, that's bias, at its best. The same goes with Barack Obama, since I couldn't stand the smugness of his grin in the news either, particularly since I don't see him being a better candidate than Hilary Clinton.

No matter, this is one reason why I had voted for Clinton, and why I voted with my feet on Facebook. People can stick around, and yes, people would want to grant Zuckerberg the benefit of doubt that he would find his way doing the right thing. But I do not intend to be his guinea pig, much the way I do not want the country to be the guinea pig of Obama, for whatever "hope" that he's talking about, without no solid, well-thought out details/plans.

There will be more snafu from Facebook. It's just a matter of time. If they think they OWN their users/members, they are over-estimating how "loyal" the internet crowd is.