In this edition of Quick Hits, we discuss Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s real feelings on privacy and his company’s growing influence around the web.

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MLB Cracks Down on Social Media Use

Chicago White Sox player Mark Teahen recently revealed that Major League Baseball sent out social media guidelines to all MLB clubs to prevent irresponsible Twitter and Facebook use by players and coaches. Given the high profile of its players, I can understand MLB’s position. If a player does something irresponsible online, it could cost the whole league money. On an interesting side note, Mark Teahan’s twitter account is actually for his dog.

Understanding Facebook’s Privacy Changes

In an article for ABC News, Ki Mae Heussner explores the ramifications of Facebook’s recent privacy changes with input from a number of Internet privacy and social media experts. The chief issue the article raises is whether the positive benefits of Facebook’s changes (greater personalization) outweigh the negative aspects (less control over personal data). One quote from the end of the article captures the general public sentiment on this issue nicely.

Debra Aho Williamson, a senior analyst for eMarketer, says, “Sharing has become a public activity. … I think consumers are being more open about what they want to say about themselves more publicly…[but] I don’t think people are less concerned about privacy.” People are still concerned about privacy, but the real issue is control. We are willing to share our information if we’re given a say in how and with whom we share it.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg “Doesn’t Believe” in Privacy

How does Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg really feel about privacy? According to Nick Bilton’s recent off-the-record chat with a Facebook employee, Zuckerberg “doesn’t believe in it.” Bilton, who is the lead tech blogger for the New York Times Bits Blog, is catching some flack for airing the off-the-record remark on his Twitter account, but the underlying issue is more important. As Wired succinctly states, “The die has been cast: The world knows that a Facebook employee thinks his CEO ‘doesn’t believe in’ privacy, which should scare the bejesus out of anyone with a Facebook account — and that encompasses just about everyone reading this now.”

Social Media Analytics Company Klout Receives $1.5 Million in Funding

Reflecting the growing importance of social media technology on an individual or business’s “influence,” the social media analytics start-up Klout recently received a $1.5 million round of Series A funding. Last month, Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik touched on the growth of these kind of companies in his response to Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch article saying that in the future,

“more detailed and nuanced Personal Scoring will appear and will dominate the existing scoring offerings like FICO. Everyone likes a nice tidy number that concretely summarizes the value of something (credit-worthiness, a stock price, a zip code, how many followers you have on Twitter, how many unique users you have on your website), and personal scoring will be just as prevalent, widespread, and, in many cases, life-affecting.”

50,000 Websites Like Facebook’s Like Button

Since unveiling its Open Graph social plug-in, Facebook’s “Like” button has been implemented on over 50,000 websites. With that kind of adoption rate within only one week, it seems like Facebook is well on its way to achieving its plans for web domination.