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Didn't Facebook just get yelled at by everyone for having too much information available via the API? I don't think it's fair to be upset that they started to l

Didn't Facebook just get yelled at by everyone for having too much information available via the API? I don't think it's fair to be upset that they started to lock down their APIs after that issue.

freehunter 8y ago
Too much information that should not have been available, yes. It's hard to argue that reading public event information published on public pages that even people who do not have Facebook accounts can see would be considered "too much information". Their response was more "oh you don't want your friends list to be public information? how about we shut down everything?"
rosser 8y ago
Too much information about people, yes. Business tend to want the kind of information your comment's parent was bemoaning being siloed up broadly available. People tend not to want their personal details treated that way. FB locking that info away isn't about protecting those businesses; it's about protecting their own position in the market. EDIT: Explain to me, then, how Facebook "protecting" info businesses want widely disseminated is in anyone but Facebook's interest. If I have a coffee shop, and we're having an event, I don't just want FB users knowing about it, do I? Treating this as a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" is disingenuously specious.
- jbob2000 8y ago
  The problem is that if you wanted to gather all the publicly available info on businesses, you had to write a very complex piece of software to do it (screen scrapers + web crawling). But Facebook wrapped that all up into a tidy APi. You can gather information about the world for a nominal amount. The Russians did it for a couple hundred grand. It’s not about what the Facebook API serves, but about the ease of use and scope of information. There’s a reason Google Maps delays satellite imagery by years, we need the same when it comes to other forms of global data.
  - rosser 8y ago
    Can you explain how this is responsive to the question of whose interest siloing this information serves? If I want to take on the complexity of aggregating it, that's my choice. Facebook isn't doing me some kind of favor by "helping" me not fall down that rabbit-hole...
    - jbob2000 8y ago
      Sure, they silo’d it to protect national interests. Which in a way, protects Facebook interests because countries would ban them if they didn’t take action on this. If you want to take on that complexity, go for it. Facebook was never trying to help you with that.
  - freehunter 8y ago
    Yoga Night at the Brewery is not a national security concern and you know it.
  - diggernet 8y ago
    Google's imagery updates can be mighty slow, but it's not because they are delaying the imagery by years. Last year they did an update of northern California within a few weeks of the fires in Santa Rosa which included the fire damage.

Didn't Facebook just get yelled at by everyone for having too much information available via the API? I don't think it's fair to be upset that they started to lock down their APIs after that issue.

freehunter 8y ago

Too much information that should not have been available, yes. It's hard to argue that reading public event information published on public pages that even people who do not have Facebook accounts can see would be considered "too much information". Their response was more "oh you don't want your friends list to be public information? how about we shut down everything?"

rosser 8y ago

Too much information about people, yes. Business tend to want the kind of information your comment's parent was bemoaning being siloed up broadly available. People tend not to want their personal details treated that way. FB locking that info away isn't about protecting those businesses; it's about protecting their own position in the market. EDIT: Explain to me, then, how Facebook "protecting" info businesses want widely disseminated is in anyone but Facebook's interest. If I have a coffee shop, and we're having an event, I don't just want FB users knowing about it, do I? Treating this as a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" is disingenuously specious.

jbob2000 8y ago
The problem is that if you wanted to gather all the publicly available info on businesses, you had to write a very complex piece of software to do it (screen scrapers + web crawling). But Facebook wrapped that all up into a tidy APi. You can gather information about the world for a nominal amount. The Russians did it for a couple hundred grand. It’s not about what the Facebook API serves, but about the ease of use and scope of information. There’s a reason Google Maps delays satellite imagery by years, we need the same when it comes to other forms of global data.
- rosser 8y ago
  Can you explain how this is responsive to the question of whose interest siloing this information serves? If I want to take on the complexity of aggregating it, that's my choice. Facebook isn't doing me some kind of favor by "helping" me not fall down that rabbit-hole...
  - jbob2000 8y ago
    Sure, they silo’d it to protect national interests. Which in a way, protects Facebook interests because countries would ban them if they didn’t take action on this. If you want to take on that complexity, go for it. Facebook was never trying to help you with that.
- freehunter 8y ago
  Yoga Night at the Brewery is not a national security concern and you know it.
- diggernet 8y ago
  Google's imagery updates can be mighty slow, but it's not because they are delaying the imagery by years. Last year they did an update of northern California within a few weeks of the fires in Santa Rosa which included the fire damage.