hyperlative.com | signal vs. noise in distributed media

Matt McKeon has created an instructive graphic comparison of changes to Facebook’s default profile settings since 2005.

The transition between relative and a more or less complete lack of privacy is easy to grasp in this form, and much easier to understand than the labyrinthine multi-page Facebook terms and conditions, or even the manual privacy controls which the majority of its users never alter.

So is this cause for celebration of a more open web or a revealing representation of the cynical interests of an unaccountable corporation in action?

Postscript: some important points on this topic from Jeff Jarvis.