Big Brother is Listening: Facebook Will Detect Movies, Music

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Facebook will use a new audio fingerprinting tool to detect what movies, music, or TV shows you're watching or listening to.

Facebook is constantly streamlining the process for users to share their current status. Its most recent efforts are to push into the second-screen craze for TV.  

The social network is doing away with clumsy hashtags and replacing them with an audio fingerprinting tool. This means that Facebook will be able to detect what TV shows, movies, or music their users are watching or listening to via the user's smartphone. When the feature is turned on, an audio icon will appear when a user posts a status. If Facebook can find a match for the song, the TV show, or the movie, the user can choose to add it to their status. Anyone who sees the status update can see or hear a 30-second preview of the media. 

According to Facebook, the feature will launch "in the coming weeks" on iOS and Android. Wired's Ryan Tate pointed to the possibility of Facebook using the feature for monetization, allowing content producers to somehow take advantage of second-screen usage for advertisement.

Catherine Cai
15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Christopher1
    This seems like a security threat to me. Rip a mp3 to your phone, all of a sudden.... whoops, we are suing you for ripping a CD!
    Reply
  • dusty13
    actions like this are the reason why i would NEVER install a fb-app on my phone ... there is a browser for that if i really feel the need to log into fb on a 4"-5" screen but i doubt i will ever get this bored ...

    also the constant "optimization" only results in the actually intersting stuff not showing up on your page anymore if you do not like that particular site or comment on that particular persons posts every 0.5 nanoseconds.

    fb is becoming increasingly crappy - sad thing is its the biggest fish out there and the one where you find pretty much everyone.
    Reply
  • SessouXFX
    Glad I never actually joined FB. no pictures, no address or phn number, just an email address I can toss away on a whim. FB can go to hell. And Google, despite having Google Fiber, is really no different...

    Mind your business, Social Media!
    Reply
  • 10tacle
    You can always sign up for FB and use a fake name with a BS spam email account (and use another BS spam email account to use that email account to set it up with). I have one for my online gaming buds only. Sometimes I feel I miss out with others on FB because nobody sends mass emails anymore with news, pictures of their vacations, etc. Everything is social media now. It's a double edged sword though. Even trying to get a job these days if you do not have a social media account under your real name, you are looked on with suspicion and "what are you hiding."
    Reply
  • SessouXFX
    You can always sign up for FB and use a fake name with a BS spam email account (and use another BS spam email account to use that email account to set it up with). I have one for my online gaming buds only. Sometimes I feel I miss out with others on FB because nobody sends mass emails anymore with news, pictures of their vacations, etc. Everything is social media now. It's a double edged sword though. Even trying to get a job these days if you do not have a social media account under your real name, you are looked on with suspicion and "what are you hiding."
    And that really has to stop. It's nobody's and the whole world's damn business what you do in your personal time or who your friends and family are. When this country gets back to minding their own business, things will work out for the better. but with this constant prying and trying to seek dirt on others, this country will be in a civil war over personal rights on and off line.

    It's like this country has turned into a bunch of gossiping hens at a coffee shop. Why in the hell are businesses trying to turn us into "The View??!?"
    Reply
  • sincreator
    Most people don't know, or forget that their facebook account belongs to facebook....
    Reply
  • antilycus
    I am confused. EVEN AFTER FACEBOOK WAS BUSTED FOR STEALING ALL, repeat ALL, end users TEXT messages (including attachments), EMAILs and CONTACTS and uploading them to the facebook server to be sold who the highest bidder... AND saying they will keep the information FOREVER... people still use the phone app, and none the less facebook itself?! IF YOU HAVE THE FACEBOOK APP ON YOUR PHONE, your information STILL gets auto uploaded to FACEBOOK. There is NOOOOO way to opt out.
    Reply
  • Neog2
    I am confused. EVEN AFTER FACEBOOK WAS BUSTED FOR STEALING ALL, repeat ALL, end users TEXT messages (including attachments), EMAILs and CONTACTS and uploading them to the facebook server to be sold who the highest bidder... AND saying they will keep the information FOREVER... people still use the phone app, and none the less facebook itself?! IF YOU HAVE THE FACEBOOK APP ON YOUR PHONE, your information STILL gets auto uploaded to FACEBOOK. There is NOOOOO way to opt out.

    You have any links to this busted for stealing. I remember someone saying something about this before but I can't seem to find anything on google, or I dont have the right search terms to bring up the articles.
    Reply
  • virtualban
    My Facebook is my public profile. Since the need for it, in order to not look suspicious without facebook, I have one and I update immaculate ideas I would not mind employers and employees to know. That includes science promotion, religion bashing, but not what I do on the weekends.
    Reply
  • crabdog
    Facebook and Tom's make a good couple. Ghostery found 29 trackers on this page alone. That is just ridiculous.
    Reply