Hey, Facebook, can we talk?
I’ve tried to talk to you about this before, but I haven’t really gotten anywhere. You just didn’t understand the problem. It’s not you, it’s me, but…
No, wait. I promised to be truthful here. Look, it is you, alright? And I’ve been patient, but it’s time for you to change.
The problem
Take for granted that I appreciate that you need to make money. I’m sure it’s really difficult, you being… well… Facebook and all. Wait, I think I’m being sarcastic here. That isn’t helping, is it? Okay, well, let’s just say I do appreciate that you need to make money.
But I hope you also appreciate that I have a duty to guard what comes in front of my eyes, and into my house.
Look, if you’re going to show advertising, someone needs to be responsible for deciding if it is appropriate or not. I’d like for it to be you, but if you’re not going to do it, I’d like to have the tools to do it. Specifically, I want a way to banish a specific flyer from my account, and from the accounts of those in my family.
Examples
Let’s look at a specific example:
This isn’t up to my standards. I don’t want to see it, and I don’t want my family to see it. I mean, I’m glad someone’s giving you money, but this is not only a scam, but it’s also an assault on my eyes.
Oh, but it’s just one flyer, right? Well, no. Let’s look at another:
I mean, I know when I am looking for a t-shirt, the very first thing I do is try to imagine what it would look like wet, plastered against a nice rack…
Oh, wait. I’ve slipped into sarcasm again, sorry.
Conclusion
Look, one of us has to change. And it isn’t going to be me. It just isn’t. I’ve got a family to think of, and I don’t want to explain the presence of images like this on the screen to my wife. I don’t want to explain to my boy why his daddy’s looking at that in a few years, either.
For now, I’ve found a CSS hack that disables all your advertisements. Sorry; I didn’t want to do that, but you didn’t give me much choice. When that hack breaks, we’ll see if you’ve improved, or if it’s time for me to move on.
I don’t hide in the bushes leafing through porn I found in someone’s trash can. I don’t oggle the lingerie section on the Sears catalog. I’ve grown up. Please join me.