[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Social sign-ins at third-party sites begin to get thumbs down here

[Mike564123]

I have avoiding posting and signing up for many sites because of this. Im glad that it is being noticed though since I plan to deactivate my account as part of my new years resolution.

[Mike564123]

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I have avoiding posting and signing up for many sites because of this. Im glad that it is being noticed though since I plan to deactivate my account as part of my new years resolution.

Of course I used my facebook account for this site, lol. Will have to explore my options when the time comes

[imapcgeek]

If I ever do sign up with my Facebook, I make sure the site can't post anything publicly unless I actually want it to post for me. Same with Facebook apps (which sites often rely on).

[TsarNikky]

What about the millions of us who have decided to not "bare our asses" on the Internet via social media sites, and therefore don't have social media accounts? We must not be important, yet,"us older folks" are often those who have money to spend.

[Patruns]

I refuse to sign in to any sites using my Facebook credentials. It seems even sites that used to allow you to create a user name and password no longer let you use it. Yet, small forum sites don't seem to have any problem. This is just another attempt by companies to track you all over the net.

[A41202813]

Forums That Do Not Allow Users An Old Fashioned 'Log In', Are Losing Users 'Hanging Around' Time.

If They Do Not Miss The Potential Business Loss, A Lot Of Users Will Not Miss Them, Either.

[chosenson]

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What about the millions of us who have decided to not "bare our asses" on the Internet via social media sites, and therefore don't have social media accounts? We must not be important, yet,"us older folks" are often those who have money to spend.

You are so right. I absolutely refuse to sign into anything but facebook with my facebook cred's. I may be one of the older folks, but I spend money just like everyone else.

[kb2504]

If you even HAVE a Facebook account, you've already given away all your privacy. So why worry about another site at that point? Once you sign up with Facebook, they own you. Don't think so? Do some research.

[bankerdanny]

The other issue with social media sign-ins is that if you happen to be accessing the site through a corporate firewall Facebook and similar sites may be blocked.

I know that I can't log in to any site that requires a Facebook login from my office. And some sites, like TechHive for example, are also blocked as a "blog".

[rixware]

The problem for me is that it's nearly impossible to determine just what information and access you are giving up when you give SomeBigSite your Facebook login. FB is such a tangled mess of cryptic settings and permissions that it's maddeningly difficult to wrangle.

The only reason anybody would use a social media account to connect to some other site is that they don't wonder about things like that. If you think about it even a little bit, you'd avoid it whenever possible just because of the uncertainty.

An article like this is, therefore, a hopeful sign. People are beginning to THINK, which is refreshing to hear.

[RLoarridge]

The bottom line is that people want choice; many will choose social login and some may like the traditional methods but businesses must get the mix right.

Social Login via Facebook, Twitter or any other social network can enable a business to, with permission, harness immense amounts of data from a consumer’s social profile to enhance the relevance of the offering. And providing a registration form or email login for the consumers who aren’t willing to share this just yet will keep everyone happy.

Russell Loarridge
Janrain
@RLoarridge

[brainout]

kb2504, on 03 December 2012 - 06:40 PM, said:

If you even HAVE a Facebook account, you've already given away all your privacy. So why worry about another site at that point? Once you sign up with Facebook, they own you. Don't think so? Do some research.

Bingo. Not only Facebook, either. Someone who USED TO BE on Facebook had left, and I got an 'invitation' from Facebook, allegedly in the guy's name, to join it. Turns out they used HIS OWN EMAIL addresses in Facebook, even after he left. That's why I don't join Facebook. Another, a physician, was involved in LinkedIn, I think. Same thing, an invitation from them, using HIS email. I never responded, and he never asked me about it, so HE DID NOT KNOW the 'invitation' was sent.

So when a site only allows Facebook or Twitter, etc. for login, I don't use that site. And I deny cookies to all the social networks, too. In Firefox, you can make acceptance of cookies conditional per vendor; they prompt for a cookie, and I say no. So I block them.

I also don't join any forum or social site which requires my real name. My 'brainout' name is very public, anyone can find me as it is. For the sake of my family, I don't want my real name hooked up to that pen name, because I publish exegetical Bible research which at times disagrees with almost every denomination 'out there', in Youtube. So I don't want my family to be contacted (or other people unrelated to me, who happen to have the same last name). So I can't join the exegesis sites (like B-Greek) to discuss issues related to that publishing, because they insist on one using his real name.

Privacy was a topic in John Dvorak's recent article, here. It's about freedom of speech, freedom to disagree, without having to carry a .357 Magnum to protect that right.

This post has been edited by brainout: 10 December 2012 - 12:11 PM