Beware!
I think facebook is using these "top five" quizzes and fan lists to build their advertising knowledge. I've seen evidence, and actually thought to do this myself. But, with such a large user base, who are willing to do the market research for them, how could it go wrong. And, why would I make this accusation?
To start, I have seen a few ads slipping through my filters that show some alarming details. Firstly, a few of those ads showed friends on my list that "liked" the product. As if they were recommending it to me. It's not much of a stretch to imagine this going even further. Soon, one could fully expect to see all ads over the internet behaving in this way. And, facebook, which may have some clause to allow this, could sell their demographic information off (made anonymous to some degree, of course). they could also use the fact that other sites plug into facebook, to offer advertising to you while visiting other sites. But why stop there? We could fully expect to receive notices that users are on other sites, enjoying them and suggesting that you join your "friend" on that other site. Freaky.
I don't like it. While I haven't filled out a single one, it doesn't matter; they have info on me, and that can be used. But, like with the recent attack on amazon, it makes me wonder what would happen if a cabal of ruthless hackers took accounts and became fans of certain products to boost advertising or hurt competitors, etc. We aren't in control of that, if it happens.
