First I’d like to say that my kind thoughts and best wishes go out to all affected by the shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday morning. I’m glad to see how supportive everyone here in Virginia is being (there are even “Hoos for Hokies” Facebook groups online, which I found really touching).

But speaking of Facebook, I found this really disturbing when I logged in today:

I can handle Facebook selling ad space on their users’ homepages, even when they look like normal feed items (like a friend messaging you, or someone tagging you in a photo). But when it comes to this… Shame on Fox for using this as a blatant opportunity for publicity, and shame on Facebook for accepting it (a company which, given its demographic, should be as respectful as possible and tread very carefully). Yes, I know that pretty much all of the news companies in the US are businesses, and it’s their job to make money - but show some respect.

Of course, it’s not like I’m surprised it was Fox that jumped on this bandwagon…