Pulse is a great way to absorb the news on any mobile device, with the release of a browser based version it’s a great way to absorb the news on any device. Or waste huge amounts of time reading news that is completely irrelevant but very interesting none the less.

While the service itself is great, I’ve been using it for a long time without the need to create an account for myself. OAuth through Facebook is gradually becoming a standard, especially as everything from a news aggregator to an alarm clock wants to share your intimates with the world. Look Ma’ I woke up a 7:47 this morning!

The problem with this is the power conferred upon the service when using Facebook to sign up. I’ve stopped plenty of times when a simple service proudly requests permission to post to my timeline, edit my cat and redistribute my photos. Pulse is a great example of how to respect your users and start building a little trust for Facebook as a single sign on solution.

When creating a new account with Facebook, Pulse request a simple permission for “your basic details” and email address. This I find reasonable as the Pulse service is specifically designed to deliver a custom news feed based on your interests. Facebook has a pretty good idea of what interests me. Most importantly, I was pleasantly surprised that there was no request request for feline manipulation of any kind.

After happily clicking to indicate my acceptance of these terms, another screen was present, this time with the request I expected earlier. Only this time is was presented as additional and optional permissions. There was also a very clear explanation of exactly why Pulse may want to share to my time line:

These permissions enable you to share stories with your friends and read your newsfeed via pulse

No trouble, I’d actually like to do that, so once again, accept I clicked.

A news reader that allows me to share stories with friends has a good reason to request these permissions. Games, magazines, cooking shows and music services do not need these things except as a free replacement for traditional advertising. Treat users with respect, request permission after gaining trust and then for goodness sake do not abuse that trust. We’ve all felt dirty after Farmville spammed our entire network of friends and family incessantly for months on end.