Facebook employee gleefully broadcasts purchases
Why has Facebook gotten into so much trouble over Beacon, its online-advertising program which alerts friends to your online purchases and other Web activity? Until CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized, its response was largely tone-deaf. And that, we suspect, is because its youthful, well-paid employees don't see what the big deal is about telling everyone what you've bought.
One in particular has become the object of derision among his supposed friends for talking up all of his purchases, including the price tag. Marcel Laverdet, a JavaScript expert whose prowess with hacking the social network, became so celebrated that Facebook finally hired him, posted the following note about a recent trip to New York, with plugs for the brands Apple, Timberland, and Peter Luger Steakhouse.
I was walking out of Peter Luger Steakhouse after spending $85 for my portion of dinner and the sidewalk had iced over. I was SMS'ing someone on my iPhone when I started slipping. Even $130 Timberland boots can't keep you from slipping in the ice. I fell but I didn't want to drop to my iPhone to break my fall with my palm, so I landed on my fist. That sucked.
We feel your pain, Marcel.