The fall of social reading


I can barely get through a morning’s-worth of Facebook updates without clicking on one telling me I should really read this or that article. Cool, I think. I trust you and that headline looks interesting. But instead of clicking through to the article, I’m greeted with a request to install a Facebook app - a social reader - that will allow me to read the article (and gain access to data from my account). Phooey! According to Buzzfeed, a lot of other people are living in Camp Phooey along with me. “Social Readers always seemed a little too share-y, even for Facebook; they felt more like the kind of cold, descriptive, invisible and yet mandatory services we're used to seeing from Google rather than genuinely new and useful tools for spreading information. And they feel, I don't know, kind of broken right now?”

That’s the crux of it, really - these things share whether I want to share what I’ve read with others or not. Just because I read a paragraph or two about the escapades of Lindsay Lohan doesn’t mean I endorse the article. In fact, I probably want to keep my public radio membership in good standing; therefore, I am not even allowed to read such articles. I mean, I loved Mean Girls, but can you imagine.

About the author

Marc Sanchez is the technical director and associate producer for Marketplace Tech Report where he is responsible for shaping the sound of the show.
BostonPeng's picture
BostonPeng - May 8, 2012

I *hate* those damned app requests. If you like an article and want to share it what's wrong with a link that will actually get me to the story? I've stopped clicking links to stories on Yahoo and the Washington Post because of those apps.

ChromeJob's picture
ChromeJob - May 8, 2012

I mark the posts as spam. The apps/posts are essentially phishing ploys, baiting us to install the little FB app to do God and Zuck only knows what. I refuse, with extreme prejudice.

A similar ploy: LinkedIn browse-blocks mobile browsers with a full-screen ad for their mobile app. I was tempted to install it a few months ago to manage a Group that I moderate, but the first 40-50 reviews at that time pointed out the app wanted full access to Android's system logs, something NO application should want or need unless it's a system troubleshooting utility. LinkedIn? Ha, no way!

You shouldn't have to install a mobile application (software that may do much more than the developers assert they do) to visit a web site; you shouldn't have to install a Facecrack app in your profile just to read content once or twice. Phooey!

Buzzworthy

Recent comments on our stories..

Annapolis57's picture

Three life rules from Donald Rumsfeld

Journalism: Practiced. Excellent interview. Thank you.

jgrothues's picture

Three life rules from Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld's interview on Marketplace today was absolutely unbelievable. Really. Is one of his rules not to believe your own spin? I...

rcd43's picture

Three life rules from Donald Rumsfeld

Ryssdal's interview with Rumsfeld was breathtakingly inappropriate. "Marketplace?" If Ryssdal wants to promote his obvious biases...

entropyman's picture

How World Finance makes a killing lending on the installment (loan) plan

There is something fundamentally wrong with predatory lending businesses, whether they are pay day loans or installment contracts. The business...