CryptoSolipsist wrote:All of the Facebook apps, like Farmville and Fishville and Mafia Wars and all that junk, are at best an amusing diversion, and at worst a waste of time. There's nothing inherently good or bad about them, no more so than Tetris, Solitaire, or Minesweeper, the timewasters of old.
If only. Using any facebook app gives the app's developer full access to your entire facebook profile, no matter what privacy settings you have. I'm sure some developers are reasonable people, and forgo selling your personal information for cash. But when Zynga's CEO admits that he did "every horrible thing in the book just to get revenues," I'd rather not hand over any personal information, much less my full profile. That could include cell phone numbers, home addresses, friends, interests, employers, etc.
I have nothing against facebook itself (helps me keep in touch with a lot of far-flung friends and relatives), nor do I mind pointless, time-wasting games, but saying that there's nothing inherently bad about facebook apps is horribly misleading.