"Can I say you're my girlfriend on Facebook?"

Dude. That's awesome!

This connections stuff is total bullshit. The help page answers are creepy as fuck too. They just keep repeating that you will now 'express yourself' by being forced to link to public groups.

Facebook got huge with non-net-savvy people because the privacy was dead simple: nobody could see fuck-all except the people you said were your friends. They uploaded loads of private information and pictures.

Now all that stuff is being exposed because you need to understand set theory and advanced logic just to say who can see your holiday snaps. It's bewilderingly complicated; so complicated that I don't think people have realised. I keep waiting for the outcry when they finally do.

Why isn't anybody launching a decent competitor?

loooool, stet is a hero. A++

I'm mostly disappointed that I can't express my unique and outsized personality through my 'interests, favorite movies and music' categories anymore

i wish i could put "never signed up for Facebook" as a resume line item

the fact that it is becoming the de facto communications medium for a lot of people -- including a lot of the people i know, ensuring that i basically have to use the site -- makes me sigh deeply

basically: email forever

They must be rolling out the iterests change in stages cos mine are still the old-style list of words.

But tbh Ive never had workmates or places of employ listed on fb. I think the "privacy" of it was always a bit of a red herring.

yeah, it seems like it's getting rolled out slowly over here -- some people have it, others don't

I'm mostly disappointed that I can't express my unique and outsized personality through my 'interests, favorite movies and music' categories anymore

― going non-native (dyao), Friday, April 30, 2010 9:29 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol yes

i hate complaining about facebook but this new "feature" is fuckin atrocious

I think what they're failing to realize is that facebook was originally successful because people didn't have to connect with other people on a global scale. It seems like this new "feature" basically is trying to connect people who don't know each other already based on interests, etc. People were fine just having their own group of friends and basically creating a personalized network of friends who they could interact with, which was what Myspace couldn't do. The exclusivity is what drew people in, and they're basically destroying that.

However, it makes sense on a monetary level that this is what it would evolve into because this way advertisers and companies can reach people much more easily than if it was still a very privatized network.

i'm interested in seeing if they're just going to continue to bloat and complicate the service to the point where it becomes even more annoying to use than it already is

some people i know switched the majority of their "updating" activity over to Twitter a while back. i think most people, though, will stick with Facebook for a while, at least until a compelling alternative comes along. the sad part is that, even if an alternative does come along, people are already way more invested in FB than they ever were in MySpace, and it'll take much longer for user attrition rates to increase in any significant way. unless FB does something really crazy, people just aren't going to get rid of their accounts or use them significantly less until they can use something else significantly more

think the "privacy" of it was always a bit of a red herring

Yeh, this is kind of it for me. I mean, tongue slightly in cheek, I've always said that if you're that bothered about privacy then don't plug your computer into the internet.

I like Facebook. In the past couple of years in particular, I've had some fantastic discussions/arguments/whatever on there. I think a large part of this is because it's individuated: I'm arguing with real people, almost all of whom I know in real life (and very occasionally with passing strangers: I made the deliberate decision to open up my profile for that very reason).

Facebook's the one place where (most) people are being themselves: sure, there's not much difference between Simon on Facebook and grimly on ILX, but there's enough. I've said things here in the past -- which I'm not proud of -- that I'd never say to someone on Facebook.

And the key thing about Facebook is I've never said anything I wouldn't be happy for a current or future employer (or friend, or relative, or whatever) to read. Same with Twitter. That's meant thinking twice before posting; a couple of times it's meant quickly going back and deleting stuff. Like it or not, that's how it is: wasn't there some instance a few weeks back where supposedly private information on Facebook was made briefly public? I think you've got to be black-and-white about it: you put something on Facebook, you assume everyone can potentially find a way to see it, because ultimately: do you trust their privacy settings 100%?

They just keep repeating that you will now 'express yourself' by being forced to link to public groups

Umm: forced? You're not forced to do anything. You can unlink from everything if you want. Not ideal, no. But "forced" is overstating it.

Facebook got huge with non-net-savvy people because the privacy was dead simple: nobody could see fuck-all except the people you said were your friends. They uploaded loads of private information and pictures

... which was ultimately maybe a bit daft of them, no? Hellfire, even by e-mailing one person something in private you run the risk of that information accidentally being made public --

AS WE BOTH KNOW TO OUR COST, STET, EH? EH? One day I'll let that lie ;)

-- so, y'know, posting shit on the World's Favourite Social Network? Umm. It's kind of trying to have your cake and eat it: "I want this to be sort-of public but mostly private!" And I don't think this is about net-savvy and non-net-savvy people: it's just simple common sense.

No, it's not an ideal situation. But what is? Ultimately, people have got to take a wee bit of responsibility for themselves and their information, no?

i'm interested in seeing if they're just going to continue to bloat and complicate the service to the point where it becomes even more annoying to use than it already is

This, I think, is a much more valid point: there seems to be a notable correlation between new features and overall bugginess.

(Jesus, that was long. Sorry. Too long in academia, too long away from ILX.)

Lol prolix. Not going to argue over semantics of forcing: if you want to use it tomorrow like you used it last week you have no alternative but to do it in public, and it will happen by default if you don't notice. There's some hefty coercion there.

Also: perfectly reasonable to expect private stuff online. I don't expect Gmail to decide to publish my email archive publicly so that I can better express myself.

Also: "take responsibility"? Bit blame-the-victim when FB continually changing the rules mid-game

i wonder how many FB users are aware that a link to their profile is indexed in Google unless they go in and change a setting

i mean, i follow tech news & even i have trouble keeping up w/ all the changes they're making

where's the setting to not get indexed ksh?

Privacy Settings --> Search

find "Public Search Results" & uncheck the box next to "Allow"

oh cool i'd already unchecked that. thx for the reminder tho, i'll pass that on.

i gotta say tho it's gotten to the point where i would gladly pay like 5 bux a month for a social networking site that didn't pull this kind of shit

№, you speak the truth

stet totally OTM when he talks about the rules of the game constantly changing, it would be one thing if this was all spelled out when you join but these things are constantly being tweaked with no advance warning. It also bugs me how all of these changes are presented as "this will be great for you!" and I don't think the average Facebook user takes the time to read more about how the changes really aren't so great. I mean, yeah, people should take accountability for understanding their options and making the most of the privacy they want, but I feel like FB is being really disingenuous about how these changes are presented and introduced.

pretty much no way to actually know what's going on w/ FB unless you decide to start reading Techmeme or following tech news closely

I feel like FB is being really disingenuous about how these changes are presented and introduced

Oh, yeh, I don't deny that for a second. But then they're A BIG COMPANY now: what else do we expect?

And because of that, I really do think -- blame-the-victim or not! -- that the only thing people can do is shrug and accept that they've got to be more careful about what they put online.

Also: perfectly reasonable to expect private stuff online. I don't expect Gmail to decide to publish my email archive publicly so that I can better express myself.

Hmm. OK, this is a good point. However, there's still a major paradigmatical difference between e-mail and social networking: the latter by definition has an element of "public" publishing -- even if it's just a few friends -- which the former just doesn't.

(Talking of e-mail -- sorry, everyone -- have you had either of my replies to your Textie thing?)

people are going to keep dumping little bits of information into FB until they do something really, really egregious, like make all of your information completely public & give you no option to make it private

the other issue is that, as FB becomes something more like the telephone or email and less like some extraneous novelty, it becomes increasingly difficult to opt-out. there's an actual social cost--at least for younger people--for choosing not to participate

Also: perfectly reasonable to expect private stuff online. I don't expect Gmail to decide to publish my email archive publicly so that I can better express myself.

― stet, Sunday, May 2, 2010 1:12 AM (48 minutes ago) Bookmark

google buzz almost did that

Allowing instant personalization will give you a richer experience as you browse the web. If you opt-out, you will have to manually activate these experiences. Please keep in mind that if you opt out, your friends may still share public Facebook information about you to personalize their experience on these partner sites unless you block the application. Learn more.

We've improved the profile so that it doesn't just list your information, but now links to Pages instead. We matched your info to the Pages below. Remember, your Pages are public. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. We've improved the profile. Remember, your Pages are public.

Facebook, go get fucked.

what i'm not clear on here is what it means in practice to be "linked" to those "pages"

and yeah stevie d otm

What does it mean when you <like> something on another page? I don't see it reflected in my profile, or posted on my wall.

i didn't want to be linked to any of the things i said i was interested in so now my profile is gone ˘\(o_º)/˘

i mean it's there it just has nothing on it. oh well!

so I guess the flipside is that you're only allowed to be interested in something if there's a Facebook page about it? what if I want to rep some obscure czech new wave films?

no it will make a page for whatever is there, it just won't have a picture

you guys are kinda sounding like those facebook groups, "OMG new facebook sux join this petition to change it back"

Just be circumspect, vigilant about your privacy settings, and don't post anything racist if you're a public official and you'll be cool.

xp yeah it will have that retarded little triangle

yeah mordy i feel u but this is super-lame, attempting to turn the likes/interests section of profiles (which for years have been a great source or weirdness and lols) into another fuckin marketing tool.

also, can i just:

u can no longer just "like" or "fan" something without it showing up in your interests; like these guys from college made a film and i "became a fan" to support them and see if it was screening and stuff, but it is not one of my "favorite" films--i haven't even seen it!

yeah i'm not too invested in it i just don't wanna play this game

i was a "fan" of like 3 musical artists that i would not consider favorites, and not a "fan" of any book i like, and my "interests" weren't really fan-worthy, and the only movie i was a "fan" of was tommy boy so i guess that's my only favorite movie now

btw can i just lol at what comes up on pages that don't exist yet:

Our goal is to make this Community Page the best collection of shared knowledge on this topic. If you have a passion for XXXXXXXX, sign up and we'll let you know when we're ready for your help.

fuck you facebookpedia

lol mark zuckerberg is playing katamari damacy with the internet

it used to be about the faces, man