Bloggasm

Well, it looks like I’m not the only one who thinks these new Facebook changes are too much. Facebook users have started a facebook group to protest the changes. It has been less than 24 hours since the changes have been made, and the group already has 976 members, and will likely grow from there. The group is called “Assembly Against the Addition of Mini-Feed,” and its description goes as follows:

Let’s face it, Facebook is kind of conducive to stalking…that’s why we love it. Still, just because we ocassionaly want to know a “little more” about people than we should doesn’t mean we want people to know that “little more” about us. The Mini-Feed has taken Facebook stalking several steps to far here are some examples of the detrimental effects of the Mini-Feed.

Example 1: Your best friend calls, you aren’t really doing anything at the time but you just aren’t really in the mood to talk. You make a polite excuse and continue on with your day. Ten minutes later you make a comment on someones photo…now your best friend thinks facebook is more important than him/her-Thank you Mini-Feed!

Example 2: Your boyfriend/girlfriend can now see that drunken comment you left a random person of the opposite sex telling them how hot they are. Thank you Mini-Feed!

Example 3: That creepy person from your school that nobody really likes but you add because you feel bad for can now pinpoint your location. Thank you Mini-Feed!

As this group grows, Facebook employees will not be able to ignore it for long. Let’s see how long it takes before these features are taken off the site.

UPDATE: It appears that there are actually several facebook groups that oppose the feed. The biggest one now has over 100,000 members, making it one of the largest groups in facebook history, all in less than 24 hours.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Facebook responds:

We’ve been getting a lot of feedback about Mini-Feed and News Feed. We think they are great products, but we know that many of you are not immediate fans, and have found them overwhelming and cluttered. Other people are concerned that non-friends can see too much about them. We are listening to all your suggestions about how to improve the product; it’s brand new and still evolving.

We’re not oblivious of the Facebook groups popping up about this (by the way, Ruchi is not the devil). And we agree, stalking isn’t cool; but being able to know what’s going on in your friends’ lives is. This is information people used to dig for on a daily basis, nicely reorganized and summarized so people can learn about the people they care about. You don’t miss the photo album about your friend’s trip to Nepal. Maybe if your friends are all going to a party, you want to know so you can go too. Facebook is about real connections to actual friends, so the stories coming in are of interest to the people receiving them, since they are significant to the person creating them.

We didn’t take away any privacy options. [Your privacy options remain the same.] The privacy rules haven’t changed. None of your information is visible to anyone who couldn’t see it before the changes. If you turned off your wall to non-friends, no one who is not your friend will be able to see a post on your wall. Your friends can still see it; it hasn’t changed. Secret groups and secret events remain secret from other people. Pokes and messages remain as private interactions. Nothing you do is being broadcast; rather, it is being shared with people who care about what you do—your friends.

We’re going to continue to improve Facebook, and we want you to be part of that process. Test out the products and continue to provide us feedback. Use your privacy settings so you can feel most comfortable using the site.

We hear you, and we appreciate the feedback.

Stay tuned… Mark