Connect with us

Editorials

As If I Needed One More Reason to Hate Socialcam

Published

on

Socialcam is a hot new iPhone app that lets users make, watch and share videos.

Some are calling Socialcam, Instagram for Video, but I’m calling it annoying and shady.

In addition to forcing users to sign up with a Facebook app to watch videos that are shared as well as showing videos you can already see on YouTube, Socialcam is ignoring users’ preferences not to share the videos they watch to Facebook.

The app goes one step further, hiding the option behind a logo after it turns it back on.

The app has taken over Facebook news feeds for the past few weeks, and won’t allow users to watch Socialcam videos without signing up for a Facebook app or the iPhone app. But that’s minor compared to this latest user-unfriendly move.

Check out the Social On feature turning back on after the app is quit in this video from Matt Galligan, who picked up on this nefarious trick.

SocialcamI’m sure Socialcam will respond within 24 hours, calling this a bug or a feature so that users can share their social viewing habits.

I wish I could say that it surprises me that this tactic made it through Apple’s App Review process, but we all know that process is better at catching helpful apps than stopping apps that don’t respect user privacy and choice.

Anytime I see an interesting Socialcam video show up on Facebook, I copy the title and search YouTube. And 90% of the time, I can watch it without signing up for an app or polluting my Facebook timeline.

 

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. devon

    05/19/2012 at 8:48 am

    Awesome – thx for the tip!! I’ve become so wary (and weary!) of these social apps that require a FB account to be linked. The “social” aspect of social media should still be up to each individual user, and the sharing not obligatory. Rubbish app. Let’s see if they can improve in the coming weeks.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.