There needs to be a better way. I wanted to download a report that was on Scribd but I needed to Login/Signup. My options? Use Facebook or standard email addy. But upon further investigation of signing up via Facebook, I see that Scribd will access the following data below.
What if I don’t want Scribd to send me emails, post to my wall, access my networks, my user ID and a list of all my friends? It seems a little bit excessive don’t you think? There has got to be a better way for Scribd and it’s users to derive mutual value from each other through Facebook registrations. This just isn’t it. Am I wrong? And yes I know they are not the only one’s doing this…People need to understand the value of their data. Their social currency is gold to others and they need to leverage it as such.
As CEO of an agency who produces hundreds of Facebook Applications, I can tell you that we take delicate care to decide whether or not we want to require information. While we (or anyone else for that matter) haven’t conducted firm research on it, my general assumption is that the bounce rate on people who get to that screen and balk is very high. We have to balance the potential bounce rate with the potential information gained through the opt-in. Does the App provide enough value for the user to push past the boundary? It seems that Scribd did not for you, and they lost themselves a customer in the process.
Ryan Cohn, CEO
What’s Next Marketing