posted 4/26/2010 7:22:13 PM by Vivek Thakur - Views: [2428]
Okay. This is purely my personal opinion based on some of my own basic research and practical experience. I think Facebook games, atleast most of them, should be avoided at any cost. And its not only games, spending too much time on Facebook can have long term permanent damages not only to your health but also risk your privacy and security. Why? Here are some valid and accepted reasons:
1. Health Effect In short, Facebook is very bad on your eyes and body. Everyone knows that most online computer games are not good for health, and given the social addiction most people have for Facebook, glaring for extended periods of time on the monitor while playing such games is dangerous for your eyes and body. Research says that social sites like Facebook cause unnecessary addiction and this need to be online to remain "in touch with friends" strains our eyes way beyond recommended limits (not to mention that the overly white background of FB is particularly damaging to our retina).
2. Privacy & Security: How many times you saw the "Allow this application to access you contact info" message while adding applications in Facebook? Most of us would invariably select Yes without giving it a second thought. Never assume your private data would be safe with those 3rd party application developers. The moment you click the Yes button to add an application, the applications owners will have instant access to your Facebook password, all your profile data, your contact numbers, your IP address and a lot of other related information. And they will store these details in their own database. Remember these application developers are not your buddies, and there is no method to check or make sure that your data will be perfectly safe in their databases. It makes all the more easier for someone to "hack" your email accounts considering most people have "shared" passwords for FB and emails.
Very few people know that Facebook recently changed its privacy settings allowing all your profile info, pictures and videos to be "public" by default. This means easier access to all your online data which a lot of these companies have been asking FB to do since a long time.
3. Fraud These companies not only blatantly "share" private info but also lure people to buy in "virtual goods" or move to higher levels by paying cash or clicking lucrative ads. An excerpt from this old article on the same topic:
In short, these games try to get people to pay cash for in game currency so they can level up faster and have a better overall experience. Which is fine. But for users who won’t pay cash, a wide variety of “offers” are available where they can get in-game currency in exchange for lead gen-type offers. Most of these offers are bad for consumers because it confusingly gets them to pay far more for in-game currency than if they just paid cash (there are notable exceptions, but the scammy stuff tends to crowd out the legitimate offers). And it’s also bad for legitimate advertisers.Read more: http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/31/scamville-the-social-gaming-ecosystem-of-hell/#ixzz0mEhs4KtE
The games are pure scam, nothing else, and they are minting money from unsuspecting users across the world. Here is another must-read link on the same topic:
Farmville "cheats" cash from users; Facebook "scam" strategy guide
4. Reduced social interaction: Ironical it may sound, but research shows that social sites like Facebook make people less social as they become more accustomed to the new concept of staying-in-touch merely by posting on someone's wall occasionally. Most users have even stopped sending emails and rely purely on Facebook to stay in touch, forget calling or personal meet-ups. Social sites like Facebook want to keep you hooked on the site itself, and limit your offline activity and interactions, because the more you are online and away from your friends, the more money for them. That's why Facebook focussed a lot on applications and games just to keep you hooked and "lonely".
5. Besides the above scams and security issues, most users do not realize that they are spending more and more time on Facebook, whereas they could be doing a lot of other interesting things, like joining some dance or sports club, learning a musical instrument, socializing using a lot of other healthier alternatives instead of sitting on their computers for extended periods of time, playing games which not only scam holes but also harm their health.
Summary? Stop spending too much time adding those applications on Facebook, avoid playing Facebook games and better do something different which takes you away from your computer for sometime. It is well known that the human body is not designed for a sedentary lifestyle, which unfortunately is a part of our work culture. Our body instead needs lots of exercise, outdoor activities and constant physical "stress" for optimum growth. The more we use our body, the better, younger and stronger it becomes. The more we spend time online Facebooking, the weaker, older and gradually dumber we get. Facebook should only be used in moderation, recommended time is once or twice a week. Even if we use those 5-15 minutes spent on Facebook to something better like Yoga, mild exercises, or morning/evening walks, we would realize and feel the difference immediately. So when are you hitting your local gym?
Vivek Thakur (Member since: 3/18/2010 6:19:45 PM) I am one of those computer nerds who loves playing guitar. Professionally, I am the co-founder of a small software firm, Axero Solutions, based in California, USA. Our company creates software for social networking and business collaboration using Communifire, a unique platform which helps companies create external as well as internal collaboration networks. I am also the author of the book: Application Architecture and Design in ASP.NET by Packt Publications (2008). I am a big follower and advocate of Chaos Theory in software systems and management (SCRUM methodology).
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