Study: Maybe Beacon Isn’t An Awful Idea After All

Here's heartening news for Mark Zuckerberg: A new study says that 80% of “social media users” are more likely to buy products recommended by friends or family.

This, after all, was what Facebook's ill-fated Beacon project was supposed to do, before the thing blew up in Facebook's face last fall. But the blowback hasn't just hurt Facebook: It seems to have scared other social networks away from trying something similar. We've seen one third-party app try to do it. But Market Lodge has a good idea but horrendous product choices.

Our primary critique of Beacon was that it wasn't opt-in. But there must be something else holding it and other recommendation schemes from working in social networks. Any thoughts?