So, Facebook found Mark Zuckerberg thinks we’re all “dumb fucks”.

Last night I was talking with a friend. He’s semi-tech savvy and had a paper to write for a class, and being I’m sorta tech-savvy he wanted my input. I forget the details of the paper but the basic question was: “what do you want to see in eCommerce in the next 5 years?”

My answer?

Honesty and integrity.

But I want to see that period.

Facebook is prime example, and one that I constantly hum-haw over. I avoided Facebook for a long time, but one day while trying to find an old friend they came up via Facebook and joining was going to be my only way of reconnecting with them. So I gave in and did it. Since that time, I’ve reconnected with a lot of folks from my past, and it’s been quite a wonderful thing. It’s a casual social environment that allows me to socialize with friends all around the world from different parts and points in my life. I see what’s going on in their lives, and they mine. There’s just something great about the way the platform works that allows for this mode of communication and interaction. It’s great.

But Facebook needs to make money, so they make it by selling advertisements (ignore Mafia Wars and Farmville and all that). The way the ads work is simple: truly targeted demographics. People voluntarily enter in all this information about themselves. Then there’s various connections due to your friends. It’s just a fantastic way to analyze the things you might like and might care about, and even the things you could care less about, then to allow advertisers to deliver a perfectly targeted message right to the people they want to see it most. How awesome for the advertisers, right?

And if you turn it around, it’s actually good for you as the consumer. If you don’t care anything about cats but love dogs and list it as such in your Facebook profile (maybe your Info, maybe based upon your Likes, whatever), then you can be pretty sure that your time won’t be wasted learning about cat-based products. Good thing!

A personal prime example? That Motörhead show I recently attended? I learned about it because of a Facebook ad, and I’m so glad I did. So, I don’t get ads about Taylor Swift, but I do about Motörhead. That’s a good thing. I now have less chaff to sort through, I learn about things I want to learn about. Isn’t that a good thing for me as well as the advertiser?

So folks, don’t consider it to be a one-sided “they’re horrible” thing for them wanting to target you in such a way. And if you don’t like it well… don’t use Facebook, or if you do, mind what information you put on there.

So how does this relate to honesty and integrity?

Because Facebook hasn’t had either.

Look at how Facebook has behaved the past 5 years with their changing privacy policy. And then for those people who don’t want to play by their rules, it’s harder and harder to do anything about it, especially after the fact.

People don’t like that.

If Facebook had been honest from the get go, that’d be different. But they haven’t been honest. They have been arrogant. They are driven by money, not making happy users. Now I see nothing wrong with making money and as much money as you want to make. But, and call my naive, I believe you can make money and still be good. How does the Socrates quote go?

“Virtue does not come from wealth, but. . . wealth, and every other good thing which men have. . . comes from virtue.”

You may make money in the short-term by being ugly, but it won’t last. People will not stand for it. You may try to change your stripes, but your true colors have already been shown. Consider what Home Depot just did.

Karma’s real, folks.