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When it comes to posting forehead-smackingly inappropriate stuff on Facebook, a cynic sees the glass as half empty: Facebook users bumble privacy settings, ignoring complicated Friends lists and privacy settings and inadvertently posting embarrassingly intimate content far and wide.
An optimist (read: Facebook’s marketing department) sees the glass as half full, or better yet, sees the glass as potentially spilling over with users sharing ever more intimate content on purpose, as opposed to stumbling over drop-down privacy choice lists or being utterly oblivious to privacy controls.
Of course, more intimate content shared = exponentially more marketing opportunities.
“Now”, I’m sure the marketing department has been thinking for a while, “if only we could get the interface for intimate sharing streamlined.”
Better yet, how about putting intimate moments into a purpose-built, standalone app designed for super-private sharing?
Facebook’s apparently doing it.
According to TechCrunch, the company’s putting the finishing touches on a separate app for composing intimate updates, designed to be an entirely different experience than what we have now: the kludgy toggling of the sharing settings on one composer interface in order to create both intimate content and blasted-out-to-the-universe Newsfeed updates.
The new app is reportedly codenamed “Moments”, multiple sources told TechCrunch.
One of the sources has seen a live, internal version of the app, which at this point is being internally tested (also known as being dogfooded).
TechCrunch describes the current design as putting the primary emphasis on the post’s intended recipients – be they close friends or family – as opposed to the main Facebook app’s primary focus on creating content.
The design has a grid with a few tiles that each represent a set of close friends or family.
There aren’t any screenshots, at this point.
Facebook isn’t saying anything about Moments (whose name could change, if it actually makes it out of the testing phase and into launch) except for its standard “We do not comment on rumors or speculation.”
Nonetheless, here’s more of TechCrunch’s description of the embryonic, super-intimate app:
Our source who’s seen Moments likened it to the mobile app Cluster, which lets people create safe "spaces" for sharing content with small groups of people like family, best friends, high school buddies, or co-workers. Moments will similarly let people share to different subsets of their total friend list using a more visual design. This should be more comfortable for people than the tiny text-based privacy selector on their News Feed composer which relies on little-used Friend Lists.
There are any number of situations where this could come in handy: for keeping your bawdy posts out of your family’s notice, for example.
If Facebook executes it well, “Moments” could be a godsend for those of us who can’t understand, don’t know about, or forget about privacy controls – or who botch the job when using them.
What do you think, ye readers who actually use Facebook: would you let it all hang out if it were drop-dead simple to see, graphically, who your pole-dancing lesson description/stone cold drunk passed out photos/fill in the blank intimate posts were going to?
Let us know in the comments section below.
And if you want to stay on top of all things Facebook-, privacy- and security-related, you can cozy on up to our intimately endearing Facebook page by just clicking Like.
We won’t tell your mum or your Aunt Rita, promise!
Image of finger on lips courtesy of Shutterstock.
“What do you think, ye readers who actually use Facebook: would you let it all hang out if it were drop-dead simple to see, graphically, who your pole-dancing lesson description/stone cold drunk passed out photos/fill in the blank intimate posts were going to?”
No. And I strongly suggest to ANYONE: No.
Not on Facebook, Snapchat, or any other service. The moment you create something of this sort, it is of potential risk to your privacy.
Your phone or PC application doesn’t “allow” it to be copied, saved, or shared? Think again.
Let’s say it is a phone app (probably the most common usage in this scenario).
You “create” an intimate “moment,” picture, what have you…
You use said application to share your intimate self with someone.
That “moment,” picture, what have you, is supposedly not able to be re-shared, copied, or saved via said application.
The recipient (or friend of a recipient), pulls out another device and snaps a picture, or video capture, etc…
Security bypassed.
I can understand the allure of sharing an “intimate moment” with someone who is a great distance away. It comes at a price. Know that the only “security” is between yourself and the recipient. Various governments (not just the “dreaded NSA”) have “agreements” with these companies, which can allow access to your “intimate moments”. MOST end users do not fully read the 30 odd pages of an EULA or TOS, etc… There is also no security measure which cannot be breached, given enough time & resources.
TL;DR:
No and no one else should either. You remain vulnerable by anyone who you’ve given access to, as well as (potentially) governments, and hackers.
The people inside the castle are limited. The ones trying to get IN have endless time, supplies, and means of execution.
No, I would not.
I treat everything I put online as something the public (unless heavily encrypted etc.) can see. It’s also one of the reasons my FB profile is mostly public, since I only put stuff on it that I wouldn’t mind the public to see.
I also don’t see Facebook as something that is possible to keep your privacy on either, since you, the user are the product, and whatever you post on FB will most likely be used for marketing/data purposes or whatever else they can think of.
And as CyberGuy_001 said, there will always be some way of bypassing it.
If you don’t want the public to see it, don’t put it on the internet. Simple as that.
Absolutely not. When will people learn that anything posted has no guarantee of privacy? Once it’s out there, it’s out there forever.
Also, doesn’t Facebook have a version of this when one creates a list or a group that allows only those in the list/group to see it? If people won’t use this, why would they use the app?
I use the custom privacy settings quite a bit. I assume the possibility of others seeing it, so I still try to use some discretion in what I type. As far as people being oblivious to the privacy controls… it’s not hard to understand, and it’s not a tedious thing in Googling instructions if you’re unfamiliar with the procedure. Now older folks who didn’t grow up using computers, I can cut them some slack. But people my age, and especially today’s youngsters old enough to know how to look up information… I have a harder time finding an excuse for them. It just goes to show how no one wants to take the time to read and be informed, anymore.
I think this sort of thing isn’t marketed at me, so it doesn’t really matter what I would or wouldn’t do. (I have a boring life anyways)
Frankly though, as this article mentioned, there are people who let things “all hang out” as it is, and this sort of thing might (also as mentioned) better protect them. I think that’s important. So I think this is a good thing.