I think they lost that argument when they started Google+, going into direct competition with Facebook with a comparable product, albeit unsuccessfully.
If anything Google is more sinister to me, with a much broader reach than Facebook into areas like mapping and navigation, personalized ad tech, personalized search, mobile OS, PC OS, web analytics, etc. etc., all at least partially geared towards data mining.
Not defending Facebook by any stretch, but "my dictator is not as evil as your dictator" does not hold up for me.
The information that should be public without an account -- public events, businesses and so on -- is visible on Facebook without an account, including comments people have made on these pages. (Admittedly, the "Sign up to Facebook" banner is pretty large.)
The private stuff on Facebook -- personal posts, friends lists and so on -- is also private on Google+, where it exists.
I think they lost that argument when they started Google+, going into direct competition with Facebook with a comparable product, albeit unsuccessfully.
If anything Google is more sinister to me, with a much broader reach than Facebook into areas like mapping and navigation, personalized ad tech, personalized search, mobile OS, PC OS, web analytics, etc. etc., all at least partially geared towards data mining.
Not defending Facebook by any stretch, but "my dictator is not as evil as your dictator" does not hold up for me.