Facebook adds 'option' to know what you're watching and listening to
FB.com
When you see the word "optional" attached to a new Facebook feature, watch out. And when you see that word in the headline of a blog post announcing the feature, you should really watch out. That means Facebook is so worried whatever this new thing is will spook people that it is trying really hard to make sure you know it isn't going to make you share any information beyond your will. With all the times Facebook has quietly added new features, you'd have to think this one is a really big deal.
"A New, Optional Way to Share and Discover Music, TV and Movies."
How benign! How sublime! But here's how others have described it:
"Facebook Will Soon Detect What You’re Watching and Listening To."
Well, that's quite the chasm.
As I often do in these situations, I turned to Carri Bugbee at Big Deal PR for an honest translation of what's really going on (and you should to). In short, Facebook is trying really hard to insert itself in the middle of folks' TV watching habits, chasing after the gold that Twitter and others are digging for in a new phenomenon called SocialTV. Fanatic TV show fans Tweet a lot at each other during shows -- so much that TV makers are integrating Twitter into television software. In the frantic search for fresh revenue, advertisers and social media firms are teaming up furiously to figure out how to wring more money out of the ecosystem that way.
Facebook is catching up, trying to give folks an easier way to talk about their TV shows on its platform. Theoretically, the new feature will save posters the time it takes to type out what they are watching. There's also a coolness factor, as it sounds like Shazam for TV.
Carri, however, predicts a lot of noise will result.
"This will create lots of useless spam (like check-ins) in the newsfeed," she wrote. Oh great!
Meanwhile, since many Facebook users already complain their newsfeed is full of things they don't want to see, and they already miss a lot of friends' posts, it's hard to imagine where all these "I'm watching this!" posts will land. Stay tuned, I guess.
Most important, Facebook stresses the feature must be turned on by users, who will have to actively seek it out. That's good, because we wouldn't want Facebook listening to us in private moments, would we? And I'm sure the feature will remain optional, and opt-in, forever. Facebook certainly has never turned on spooky features without giving notice.