

Show HN: Anonymous Mode, an experiment with anonymity on Facebook - yakto
http://www.anonymousmode.com

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yakto
Just launched today, built it over the last few weekends. Sorry for the fb
login requirement, as I know HN isn't the target demo of this app. But I
thought you all might appreciate an effort to get away from the never-
anonymous aspects of Facebook.

Besides <http://www.anonymousmode.com>, you can also access the app at
<http://apps.facebook.com/anonymousmode>

Would appreciate feedback, particularly on how long you think it will take FB
to complain about how closely I've mimicked their UI. :)

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lachyg
God, I literally cracked up laughing when I saw all the permissions you asked
for!

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yakto
Too many? My mom taught me I won't get anything if I don't ask for it. :)

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lachyg
I thought it was a joke... =P

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yakto
I can see how the HN crowd would be amused, but for the target demo, I'm
currently under the assumption that they don't really read/care about those
extended perms too closely. Suppose I could cut a couple of them and stage
them in later to engaged users, but I doubt if that's going to affect
conversion significantly.

Note: if you cancel the login prompt, you can still browse around the site and
see most of it.

~~~
yakto
Okay, I just removed a bunch of the perms asked for up front, because I really
would like some feedback from some of you. Anyone?

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corin_
I don't even have a Facebook account, so I haven't spent more than ten seconds
looking at your site (sorry!), but I do find it hilarious that an "anonymous
mode facebook" requires authentication via a facebook account.

~~~
yakto
Yeah, that's a bit of a disconnect all right, but a necessary one: without an
active FB session, I can't wire up the necessary features like Search (of all
FB's 600MM users) or showing you your friends list.

Rest assured that while you you do need to connect via FB, all your activity
on the app is anonymous - as either "a friend" or "a stranger" of the user
you're rating/commenting on.

