Facebook 'goes public'
2007-09-05 10:37
San Francisco - Facebook Inc, the
social networking site that has enjoyed explosive growth in new
members over the past three months, said it plans to let users
tell the rest of the world how to find them on the site.
Starting later on Wednesday, Facebook will begin notifying
members they have a choice over whether to keep their listings
private or to allow Facebook to make their name and profile
picture available when outsiders search the site.
The Palo Alto, California-based site has grown to 39 million
members, up 62.5% from 24 million in late May.
By publicising member profiles, Facebook could attract a new
wave of users. Unlike most sites on the web, Facebook has
previously denied access by search services to information on
the site.
But after notifying users over the next 30 days of its plans
to open up basic profile listings of its members, Facebook plans
to begin allowing sites like Google, Yahoo or others to "crawl",
or index, its public member profiles.
Early next month, non-members of Facebook will be able to
type the names of friends or acquaintances into a search box on
Facebook's home page at www.facebook.com to see if they
have public profiles on Facebook in order to contact them.
But the move could still prove controversial among some
members who prize the privacy protections Facebook offers
relative to more open sites. Many members have criticised
Facebook policy changes.
A year ago, Facebook weathered a privacy storm among
students disturbed by changes that exposed users' postings to
their friends.
More recent changes that drew in more adults have
also provoked concern among the site's core student base that
parents and authority figures can monitor their activity.