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This recent Facebook smear campaign is interesting to watch on HN. Is it the work of an organized group, or just the hivemind's gobbling up of anything anti-Fac

This recent Facebook smear campaign is interesting to watch on HN. Is it the work of an organized group, or just the hivemind's gobbling up of anything anti-Facebook? Either way, it's poor form and not news, this plugin and its more broader 'disconnect' sibling have been linked before several times. Nb: I have no skin in this game, I personally don't have a Facebook account, but it's not because I'm some anti-FB zealot. The frontpage of HN has been very disappointing in the last week with non-substance links littering it, and even less worthwhile comments accompanying them. Let's try not to upvote such frivolous and low-signal links.

espeed 15y ago
It's somewhat reminiscent of the anti-Groupon sentiment that began about the time some of the other major players started to get into the daily-deal game (however Groupon wasn't helping itself much either).
barrkel 15y ago
There's a fairly wide appreciation among technically aware people of just how deep Facebook is getting its tentacles into things. Sentiment has been turning anti-FB for quite some time; it's been aggravated by FB's blunders in the past, by defaulting to over-invasiveness, then dialing back in response to outcry. So whenever FB gets press for something that can be viewed in the same light, there's a lot of judging them by their past actions. So while there may be an element of opportunism in covert anti-FB PR, it's working with dry kindling. There's real fire here, not just smoke.
- TallTalesOrTrue 15y ago
  Sometimes I get a feeling that the hivemind of HN is critical of anything that is not associated google. I could be wrong as I am a fairly new user. But that's just what I have observed in last few weeks.
  - click170 15y ago
    If the Google+ Like button appeared on anywhere near as many sites as Facebook, I'd be concerned about Google too. I'm kind of surprised NoScript doesn't have an option of disabling scripts on a site-by-site basis. Ergo, if I have two tabs open, Google+ and some other page containing a Google+ Like button, I should be able to enable Google scripts on only the Google+ page. As it stands, when a script from a domain is enabled, it is enabled for any and all tabs you have open. I think that behavior can be improved.
    - skrebbel 15y ago
      you,re forgetting about google adsense. google has been tracking you across the internets before fb even existed.
    - franck 15y ago
      I agree this would be a nice feature to have. In the meantime, you can use the RequestPolicy add-on in order to block cross-domain requests to G+ in your other tabs. In this case, NoScript won't even be needed because the script won't be loaded at all.
    - mike-cardwell 15y ago
      I'd guess that Google Analytics and Google Adsense exist on more websites than Facebook like buttons, and they pose the exact same threat.
      - click170 15y ago
        Touche!
  - smokinn 15y ago
    I don't see what Google has to do with this. Google gets roasted just as well as any other company around here. I've seen several articles get upvoted about google+ being a ghost town, and other critical articles. Just try googling site:news.ycombinator.com google From the first page I see: 6 discussions that are basically neutral 1 positive (Google puts Japan quake tsunami warning on their search page) 1 mix of positive and negative (people arguing both positions) (Goodbye, Google App Engine) 2 negative (Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results, Google to announce "new programming language for structured web programming" ) I've never noticed a leaning towards favoring Google here. If you were arguing that YC funded companies get preferential treatment then you might have a case but I don't think your "I get a feeling that the hivemind of HN is critical of anything that is not associated google" is correct at all.
mscarborough 15y ago
I deleted my Facebook account a few months back, but I'm also interested in how their new products work, seeing as how they affect millions of internet users. I'm biased because I do think Facebook is lame, and that the amount of online profile wish-fulfillment is just creepy. Is this 'anti-FB zealotry'? If you're going to meta-moderate HN, try to engage in less hyperbole than the 'smear campaign' you disagree with.
jacobolus 15y ago
Your phrasing – “smear campaign”, “hivemind”, etc. – is unhelpful to reasonable discussion, whether or not you have “skin in the game”.
jsz0 15y ago
It has very little to do with Facebook. It's people who wish other people were more like them (concerned about privacy in this case) using some other event as an opportunity to push their agenda. It's a harmless circle jerk I suppose.
grovulent 15y ago
I voted your comment down. I suppose it's good form to explain why - so here goes. I guess I find your comment low signal as well. It doesn't help me understand why you think there is a smear campaign - or why you think it might be a conspiracy. I personally don't want Facebook building a profile about me - and I don't trust them enough not to so act with their like buttons n whatnot. So this is a handy tool for me that I didn't know about before today. I'm not sure why I have to be considered an anti-facebook zealot, part of the hive-mind, conspirator jerk just because I find such a tool useful.
- ams6110 15y ago
  I personally don't want Facebook building a profile about me So don't have an account with them.
5hoom 15y ago
Same as you, no skin in this game. It Feels like I awoke up today & HN is having a Facebook special. I thought it was fairly well established that FB is a privacy quagmire (logged in or otherwise), so this all seems a bit redundant. Maybe I missed a memo…

espeed 15y ago

It's somewhat reminiscent of the anti-Groupon sentiment that began about the time some of the other major players started to get into the daily-deal game (however Groupon wasn't helping itself much either).

barrkel 15y ago

There's a fairly wide appreciation among technically aware people of just how deep Facebook is getting its tentacles into things. Sentiment has been turning anti-FB for quite some time; it's been aggravated by FB's blunders in the past, by defaulting to over-invasiveness, then dialing back in response to outcry. So whenever FB gets press for something that can be viewed in the same light, there's a lot of judging them by their past actions. So while there may be an element of opportunism in covert anti-FB PR, it's working with dry kindling. There's real fire here, not just smoke.

TallTalesOrTrue 15y ago
Sometimes I get a feeling that the hivemind of HN is critical of anything that is not associated google. I could be wrong as I am a fairly new user. But that's just what I have observed in last few weeks.
- click170 15y ago
  If the Google+ Like button appeared on anywhere near as many sites as Facebook, I'd be concerned about Google too. I'm kind of surprised NoScript doesn't have an option of disabling scripts on a site-by-site basis. Ergo, if I have two tabs open, Google+ and some other page containing a Google+ Like button, I should be able to enable Google scripts on only the Google+ page. As it stands, when a script from a domain is enabled, it is enabled for any and all tabs you have open. I think that behavior can be improved.
  - skrebbel 15y ago
    you,re forgetting about google adsense. google has been tracking you across the internets before fb even existed.
  - franck 15y ago
    I agree this would be a nice feature to have. In the meantime, you can use the RequestPolicy add-on in order to block cross-domain requests to G+ in your other tabs. In this case, NoScript won't even be needed because the script won't be loaded at all.
  - mike-cardwell 15y ago
    I'd guess that Google Analytics and Google Adsense exist on more websites than Facebook like buttons, and they pose the exact same threat.
    - click170 15y ago
      Touche!
- smokinn 15y ago
  I don't see what Google has to do with this. Google gets roasted just as well as any other company around here. I've seen several articles get upvoted about google+ being a ghost town, and other critical articles. Just try googling site:news.ycombinator.com google From the first page I see: 6 discussions that are basically neutral 1 positive (Google puts Japan quake tsunami warning on their search page) 1 mix of positive and negative (people arguing both positions) (Goodbye, Google App Engine) 2 negative (Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results, Google to announce "new programming language for structured web programming" ) I've never noticed a leaning towards favoring Google here. If you were arguing that YC funded companies get preferential treatment then you might have a case but I don't think your "I get a feeling that the hivemind of HN is critical of anything that is not associated google" is correct at all.

mscarborough 15y ago

I deleted my Facebook account a few months back, but I'm also interested in how their new products work, seeing as how they affect millions of internet users. I'm biased because I do think Facebook is lame, and that the amount of online profile wish-fulfillment is just creepy. Is this 'anti-FB zealotry'? If you're going to meta-moderate HN, try to engage in less hyperbole than the 'smear campaign' you disagree with.

jacobolus 15y ago

Your phrasing – “smear campaign”, “hivemind”, etc. – is unhelpful to reasonable discussion, whether or not you have “skin in the game”.

jsz0 15y ago

It has very little to do with Facebook. It's people who wish other people were more like them (concerned about privacy in this case) using some other event as an opportunity to push their agenda. It's a harmless circle jerk I suppose.

grovulent 15y ago

I voted your comment down. I suppose it's good form to explain why - so here goes. I guess I find your comment low signal as well. It doesn't help me understand why you think there is a smear campaign - or why you think it might be a conspiracy. I personally don't want Facebook building a profile about me - and I don't trust them enough not to so act with their like buttons n whatnot. So this is a handy tool for me that I didn't know about before today. I'm not sure why I have to be considered an anti-facebook zealot, part of the hive-mind, conspirator jerk just because I find such a tool useful.

ams6110 15y ago
I personally don't want Facebook building a profile about me So don't have an account with them.

5hoom 15y ago

Same as you, no skin in this game. It Feels like I awoke up today & HN is having a Facebook special. I thought it was fairly well established that FB is a privacy quagmire (logged in or otherwise), so this all seems a bit redundant. Maybe I missed a memo…