2008 Woodie Awards
Facebook Flunks Out with Its News Feed Feature
Megan Borkes
Issue date: 10/9/06 Section: Opinions
"Megan changed her relationship status." All of a sudden, 90-something people know that I've broken up with someone, or that I've gone out on a date with someone and "it's complicated." I can't really speak for everyone, but that just seems a little too much like stalker behavior to me.
Facebook.com, a popular Internet community, has added a new feature called the "news feed" to its slew of communication highlights. However, it's hard to say whether or not the feature is a step in the right direction for the website.
The first day that it was introduced, there were already groups being organized to protest it. It was criticized as everything from "Omg soooooo stupid!" to an invasion of privacy. That same week, the feature was given a privacy option, where users could select which actions other people could see, or even get rid of the feature altogether by not selecting anything. Many people have chosen to give their online friends a limited view of what they're doing on Facebook.
In my own life, this news feed feature has caused its fair amount of drama. For example, I decided to post comments to a couple of my friends who I hadn't seen or spoken to in a while. Pretty average Facebook-ing activity, but once it was up on the news feed of my ex boyfriend (who I hadn't commented to), there was an issue. I had to take an hour out of my time to explain to him why it was that I hadn't commented to his page as well.
Sure, this is a very unique case, but the basic idea is just the same. People can see whatever their friends are up to with this, and that's a scary concept. It certainly makes one want to be more careful what's said in comments, and I'm sure it's done its part in making private messages a more widely used feature.
Speaking of widely used, Facebook has just recently announced that they are opening the site up to whoever wants to use it. Fellow Facebook veterans should remember way back when the site was used exclusively for college students. It was our haven from the obnoxiously popular Myspace.com where everyone and their mother could join up and add whomever they liked, sparking popularity contests over the Internet.
Facebook.com, a popular Internet community, has added a new feature called the "news feed" to its slew of communication highlights. However, it's hard to say whether or not the feature is a step in the right direction for the website.
The first day that it was introduced, there were already groups being organized to protest it. It was criticized as everything from "Omg soooooo stupid!" to an invasion of privacy. That same week, the feature was given a privacy option, where users could select which actions other people could see, or even get rid of the feature altogether by not selecting anything. Many people have chosen to give their online friends a limited view of what they're doing on Facebook.
In my own life, this news feed feature has caused its fair amount of drama. For example, I decided to post comments to a couple of my friends who I hadn't seen or spoken to in a while. Pretty average Facebook-ing activity, but once it was up on the news feed of my ex boyfriend (who I hadn't commented to), there was an issue. I had to take an hour out of my time to explain to him why it was that I hadn't commented to his page as well.
Sure, this is a very unique case, but the basic idea is just the same. People can see whatever their friends are up to with this, and that's a scary concept. It certainly makes one want to be more careful what's said in comments, and I'm sure it's done its part in making private messages a more widely used feature.
Speaking of widely used, Facebook has just recently announced that they are opening the site up to whoever wants to use it. Fellow Facebook veterans should remember way back when the site was used exclusively for college students. It was our haven from the obnoxiously popular Myspace.com where everyone and their mother could join up and add whomever they liked, sparking popularity contests over the Internet.
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