Surely Facebook is one of the most popular social networks in the world, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t one of the creepiest. Some of us find it odd that the app at some point provides ads specific to certain things we want to buy in a very direct and targeted manner, and that’s really because hey, it has ways to figure it out. If you thought that Facebook is done with its creepy practices, think again, as a new feature is being rolled-out today, and it is kind of cool.
The iPhone and Android Facebook App can now detect watch you’re watching on TV, or what you’re listening to, and will help you share that information along with your status, just like it can tell people where you are while you’re doing so at the moment. The app uses the device’s built-in microphone to listen to its surroundings, and Facebook engineers have spent a full year in nailing the different functionality that the app will bring. An example is a deal with 160 TV stations, and other deals with Spotify and Rdio in order to detect what surrounds you in 15 seconds or less.
You can definitely opt-out of the feature, but apparently Facebook is still planning to provide your data anonymously. The idea is primarily to sell you ads obviously, as Facebook thinks that this feature will have users sharing more, and therefore boosting performance to 1.28 billion users. It also plans to use these stats as a way to provide TV stations with active ratings of what users are currently watching.
Creepy or not, you be the judge. It’s not like if Facebook will allow you to go completely mute on the manner anyway.
Source: The Wall Street Journa
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