Facebook users protest how tough it is to ‘opt out’ of new features

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Junk mailers and telemarketers. For years they propelled the popularity of the phrase “opt out.”

Now Facebook has claimed that distinction.

Annoyed users who want to be asked to “opt in” rather than being forced to “opt out” are protesting how many steps it takes to get rid of the latest Facebook features.

When users logged into Facebook on Wednesday, they got this message: “Connect with your friends on your favorite websites.”

Clicking on a “Learn More” link, they discovered they would have to “opt out.” When they unchecked the box to reject “instant personalization,” up popped a box to inform them just how lonely they would be on the Internet, left out of the rich experience of sharing the Web with their friends.

Oh, and by the way: “Please keep in mind that if you opt out, your friends may still share public Facebook information about you to personalize their experience on these partner sites unless you block the application.”

So it’s off to yet another link: “You can opt-out of instant personalization by disallowing it here. By clicking ‘No Thanks’ on the Facebook notification on partner sites, partners will delete your data. To prevent your friends from sharing any of your information with an instant personalization partner, block the application: Microsoft Docs.com, Pandora, Yelp.”

-- Jessica Guynn