Apple Archive

Facebook and the Social Networking Controversy

- 2006.10.02

sda

Ask just about any college student what Facebook is, and not only will they tell you, but they'll probably also recount some of the site's recent actions. For those who don't know, Facebook recently revamped its website to feature "news feeds". These are similar to RSS feeds, except that in this case the information is about what the user's friends have recently added to or removed from their profiles - as well as what events they're attending, whether they added someone as a friend, or what group they recently joined.

An hour or so after this feature was launched; a Facebook group was created to protest the changes. After a day, they had over 300,000 members, and after two days the group had over 700,000 members - all angry about the new "feature".

When someone joins a social networking site, they are joining on the basis that the information they post is public information - they are essentially creating a personal ad for themselves. This is the basis for the argument that supports the new features - all the information displayed in the feeds is public information, and only your friends can see it. If you didn't want your friends to see something, you shouldn't be linked as friends with them in the first place.

However, many members felt these features went too far. The feed broadcasts that you declined the invitation to join the "save the trees" group to all of your friends and throws in their face that you posted pictures of the party you went to last week. Further, it makes stalking someone much easier.

Facebook users felt that they should have the right to a tiny bit of privacy even on a relatively open forum. So after several days, Facebook introduced stricter privacy controls that let community members choose who can see their profile and what information people can see in your feed.

To be clear, even from the beginning you could manually remove each item in your feed by clicking the 'x' button next to it on your profile page. This wasn't the solution that Facebook users were looking for, though, and some are still annoyed with the new privacy options, claiming that the site should remove the feature entirely.

It isn't completely over, as Facebook plans to open up to regional networks. This means that just about anyone living in a specific area can join and befriend someone from another network. While they can't see someone's profile at a college (or another network) without actually being their "friend", it breaks the exclusivity that helped make Facebook so popular and successful - along with the simplicity of use that features such as status (what you're currently doing; e.g., "Adam is currently in class"), notes (a weblog) and, of course, feeds, already helped to destroy.

Whether people end up migrating to another, more exclusive site remains to be seen.

The general problem with social networking online is that just about anyone can know a lot about you in a very short amount of time. Facebook was so successful at dealing with this because its system used your college email address to verify that you are indeed a student at the school. Myspace, Bebo, and others didn't have this check in place and therefore ended up with a completely different atmosphere and user base.

Will Facebook last? Probably, in some form or another, but college students survived for years without it, and they can and most likely will do so again if Facebook continues to alienate its users.

Join us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Recent Apple Archive articles

iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 2007.12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
Options for replacing your older iPod, 2007.11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 2007.11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini.
More in the Apple Archive index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac IIfx, introduced 1990.03.19. This 'wicked fast' 40 MHz Mac trumped the 33 MHz DOS world.
February 14 in LEM history: 98: A perfect compact Mac - 00: Extended computer warranties worth the cost? - Making your PC work with your Mac - 01: Customize Microsoft Word - 02: Quadra revives a passion for computing - 03: Real world performance - DIY Pismo screen replacement - Best Mac for writing - 03: Fastest browser on the Mac - 06: 15" MacBook Pro - Impressions of a newly acquired Lisa - Finding and using free WiFi - Apple should liberate OS 9 - 07: New Mac mini cheaper than upgrading a Power Mac - 08: Falling in love with OS X
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Apple Archive articles copyright ©2000-07 by Adam Robert Guha. Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct from Strider Software.

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker and Mac Casino applications in minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay