Let me preface this post by saying that I tried my best to not come off as just another Facebook ranter, and no, I’m not getting paid under the table by Google.
Yesterday, Google opened the doors of their social networking service to the public. I really liked the site, but couldn’t see myself committing since I’m already such an avid Facebooker. Like most people, I don’t want parallel social networks (I mean, I can’t even justify having a twitter account because it’s too similar to my status updates). So, while I had strong convictions about not switching yesterday, I’m not sure where I stand today.
The new Facebook changes are impossible to ignore. There had been a variety of recent changes already (groups and subscribing), but I could still maintain my original social networking experience by ignoring them. Now, the page I probably visit most on the internet, the Homepage, has me a little disoriented. They promise that the information is being sorted to our benefit by an algorithm, but it just translates to the public as a loss of control and increase in complexity (-2 Trust points).
Facebook members have a history of backlashing against redesigns, but in the past there was nowhere else to go (assuming you already revolted against your tacky MySpace). Now, with Google+ on the scene, there is another social network who would be more than happy to take you in and nurse your wounds.
Facebook is changing to try to maintain a competitive advantage (and I’m truly convinced they have our best interests at heart), but they’re kind of coming off as capricious and authoritarian. You WILL Facebook this way and like it! No wait, Facebook THIS way and like it! For starters, this wasn’t even a staged integration. They could have warmed us up to the change, like the time they gave us that false sense of agency by letting us “choose” to adopt the new look, until in eventually overrides anyway.
All I’m saying is the last thing you want to do when your competition opens its doors to the masses is give your devoted members a reason to leave. Part of why people put off Google+ was the fact that there was a learning curve. It’s easier to stick to what is familiar. Unfortunately, Facebook is slowly stripping away everything that made it familiar. So, maybe I don’t want to relearn Facebook and be hassled with grouping all my friends or meta-subscription related actions. Instead, maybe I want to use that energy to learn Google+ and hangout with will.i.am (tonight at 9p ET!)! I don’t know, but a fresh start is tempting.
Good thoughts. The idea of filtering everything by complex algorithms seems cool, but to experience it DOES feel like a loss of control. I am not warming up to the new changes as quickly as I have in the past. I feel like there is less content for me to browse now, since they are filtering out lots of (admittedly possibly old, already-read) top stories using who knows what criteria. In the past, although there was still a nebulous-criteria algorithm at work, there were still lots of posts available to read… two full pages of “top” or “recent” stories. Now with so many fewer posts made available, it makes me really wonder what I’m missing and why I can’t have access to it.
Yeah, I know what you mean and I completely agree. But, my faith has been restored now that a new fb will be rolling out in the next few months. Hang in there kitty, we’re in for a bumpy ride. I can’t wait to see what this will really be all about.