There's more than one way to boil a lobster - as I learned in Boston this month, where I was attending ROFLCon, a conference on Internet culture - and there's more than one reason to hate Facebook.

First, the lobster. It's been suggested that a more humane alternative to dropping living lobsters into boiling water is to place them in tepid water and slowly heat to a boil. The thinking is that they won't notice the temperature changing.

This seems to be the tactic that Facebook is employing to get users accustomed to its ever-more-lax privacy settings.peddled itself as a virtual community - intimate, friendly - and that's what people still expect. If they're anything like me, they're angry at the principle of the thing - the slow, silent dissolution of privacy - as much as the thing itself.

There are alternatives: websites Pip.io and Diaspora are trying to draw users with the promise of more secure online socializing, but a monopoly is a tough nut to crack.

Last week, a Facebook executive cautioned people not to share things if they're worried how the information will be used. However, as Facebook grows in popularity, it is bound to sweep up less Internet-savvy members. Does their ignorance - whether it's culturally or age-based - mean they deserve whatever they get?

Which, for now, may be nothing more severe than targeted ads. Mention seafood in a post, and you may see a Red Lobster ad appear next to your profile. It may be creepy, but it isn't going to be anyone's downfall.

What's still in question is how much more Facebook is going to reveal about us to the world. What fate are we in for as the issue heats up? And at what point will we be truly cooked?

Follow Lisan Jutras on Twitter @lisanjutras