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The Mini-Feed Aftermath

So remember about a month or so ago, millions of Facebook users protested against the mini-feed and news feed that show what everyone was doing right on one page?

So I've been asking around my friends and what they think? Some quit Facebook because of the creepiness. Some absolutely adore it for its efficiency.

"I personally like it...It's nothing that wasn't there before... it just makes information more accessible to people who don't really know computers."

Another conversation:

[23:03] D: initially i don't think people understood what was revealed in them
[23:03] D: and quickly facebook adjusted the feature so that people can decide what is shown on the feeds
[23:03] D: so i think that's when people got over being angry about it
[23:04] D: there are some people who post messages obsessively and are embarrassed when it's announced to everyone
[23:04] K: yeah
[23:04] K: did u think people stopped messaging so compulsively once they were up
[23:04] K: or no one really cares now
[23:04] D: i think people waste less time when the important things are posted like they are with the feeds
[23:05] D: so if you want to know what someone has been doing, it's pretty easy to look and see
[23:05] D: instead of checking all their friends profiles or something
[23:05] D: i think they did initially
[23:05] D: but then adjusted the privacy so that ppl can't see who they msg
[23:06] D: facebook is good for stalking and i think this feature enhanced the stalking possibilities

On security matters:
[23:08] K: and u're not afraid of potential stalkers?
[23:08] D: eh
[23:08] D: i haven't run into any big creepos on fb lately
[23:09] D: so i'm not worried
[23:09] D: i mean so what if they read msgs i write on my friends walls
[23:09] D: i write them on their walls instead of private msgs knowing other ppl can see them
23:09] D: if there's anything especially embarrassing :) you can always x out that story and it's gone

All in all, control is definitely important for users on social networking website. As long as these users feel secure about what information is public and which information is private, then there seems to be little concern about security.

When Facebook mini-feeds and news feeds first came into existence, no one knew what to do with it initially. As there were no announcements about the new features, users freaked out as all of a sudden you can see what's happening with any of your friends all in one convenient listing.

[23:11] D: they should have had announcements before
[23:12] D: telling us what will happen in a few days
[23:12] D: b/c it was kind of shocking
[23:12] D: and ppl weren't clear about what was revealed
[23:12] D: like, are they gonna tell people whose photos you've been viewing or how many times you've looked at someone's profile?

K: Have some people stopped using Facebook?
[23:14] D: yeah i know a couple ppl
[23:14] D: they thought about getting back on after they understood the feeds and that you can limit them
[23:14] D: but didn't
[23:14] D: b/c they were still mad
[23:15] D: i think it's kinda dumb, but that's just my opinion
[23:15] D: they switched to myspace

How ironic... they switched to the more public social networking site with possibly more stalkers and crazy people.

There definitely seems to be a tension between being connected and being secured. Although it is quite frightening how much information you can dig up by using Google, it's interesting to note that more people feel the need to be connected. Technology has come to a point where there are people who love to share and communicate with others all the time, and people who cherish their privacy and try to separate technology from their lives. There are 100 million users on MySpace, so people stay on the site despite the security and stalker concerns.

posted by Koh @ 2:43 PM