Facebook.com Privacy Backlash

Facebook.com, a social networking site aimed at college students, has received negative public response about two recently released products, News Feed and Mini Feed, which some users believe invades their privacy.

A Facebook group called "Students Against Facebook News Feed" is requesting that the company remove the new features, which allows users to get updates when friends have modified some of their personal data. As of Tuesday, an online petition has nearly 30,000 signatures.

The popular social networking site has about one-tenth the number of members as News Corp.'s MySpace.com but provides marketers a much sought after audience: 18 to 25 year olds.

Facebook executives have responded to the protests by posting comment on their blog page:

"We've been getting a lot of feedback about Mini-Feed and News Feed. We think they are great products, but we know that many of you are not immediate fans, and have found them overwhelming and cluttered. Other people are concerned that non-friends can see too much about them. We are listening to all your suggestions about how to improve the product; it's brand new and still evolving," Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote on the Facebook blog.