The ‘second screen’ trend, where people share what television shows they are watching on social networking sites, is on the increase and Facebook hopes to jump on the bandwagon.
Facebook said, “If you share music, your friends can see a 30-second preview of the song. For TV shows, the story in News Feed will highlight the specific season and episode you’re watching.”
As always, there are privacy concerns. For instance, user’s microphones will be accessed in order to detect any music or shows close to your smartphone. An animated icon will appear at the top of your app when you begin to write a status update. When the app ‘hears’ audio that matches one in its database, users can share the information. Although you can apparently turn the feature off, Facebook says that the app does not have the ability to store information or read background noise and conversations.
Every year there are five billion status updates regarding different television and music involvements. Facebook simply wants to take advantage of this aspect.
But won’t automating this process have glitches? Nicole Simon stated from TechCrunch that: “While the idea is nice and technology really interesting, I have no interest in Facebook ‘observing’ my audio and surrounding. Yes, it starts currently as opt-in, and only on occasion, but there is no trust from my side for even that.”
Although this feature was not created to increase Facebook’s advertising, the information relating to what people are watching and listening to could push adverts onto unsuspecting users. After all, isn’t this what Facebook already does? Using public information on profiles in order to push advertisements on individuals is not a new idea. Now television and music will be added to the list.
[Image via npr]
SOURCE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27517817
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