Top 3 Reasons Facebook Sucks
Hi,
Facebook is one of the predominate social networking platforms out there today … ok, we all know that. Anyway, I have problems with many social networking sites … Facebook though, is a special beast.
The top 3 things that I don’t like about Facebook:
- Security issues.
- Privacy issues.
- Lousy user interface.
Security
Putting all that information out there for everyone to see, for Facebook to catalog and sell … makes it really easy for people to create detailed profiles about you. Maybe I’m just an overly cautious nerd programmer, but I’m thinking that having all this personal information out there is not a good thing.
Privacy issues
Very much related to the security issue I just mentioned, privacy is lost when you start posting everything about yourself on Facebook. Another problem is the social aspect of it all – you may find yourself ‘connected’ to people by accident you may not want to be connected to.
It happened to me once, a friend of mine, who was friends with these Russian girls (that I did not know) … anyway, the Russian chicks started posting stuff to my profile page (something called The Wall) and that got me into trouble with someone, though I really had nothing to do with this.
.. Russian girls on Facebook can spell trouble!
Lousy user interface
Without a doubt, Facebook has a really sucky user interface. You’d figure with all that venture capitol money being pumped into that beast, they could get that right. Sending emails is a pain and Outlook, Thunderbird and just about every other email program works much better.
… The short time I used Facebook when I was traveling around Asia, I wasn’t sure half the time if what I was writing was public or private! It got to the point where I was a little nervous about posting anything.
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
Facebook has just changed their security settings to be more user friendly. Every post or comment you write now can be set to private by one click on the “privacy lock” icon.
What do you mean by selling and cataloging?
Why are you comparing facebooks web messaging system to OS based email programs?
I don’t agree or disagree with your points, I just feel there is very little facts to back-up your statements. I feel that for what it is, facebook offers a social networking platform that is easy to navigate and use for first timers, as well as, providing some features for more advanced users.
“Why are you comparing facebooks web messaging system to OS based email programs?”
A lot of users use Facebook to as a replacement for email applications … and for email altogether. I’ve had people tell me to “Facebook them” rather than email them.
… This is not something I am critical of, but that is why I compared the two.
“What do you mean by selling and cataloging?”
From what I recall, Facebook was building up user profiles so as to target ads. I forget the details but it was clear (from what I recall) that there was profiling going on. If you’re comfortable with that, then fine. Personally, it doesn’t make too much of a difference, since who I am is pretty well established on the Web. Then again, all that is out there on me is about my professional life and not where I like to vacation or who I like to hang out with.
… From a recent PCWorld article regarding Facebook privacy issues:
With regards to the facts; I don’t have detailed use-case examples and/or documented stack traces to show the holes. I did mention my personal experience and I know of others who have had a similar experience. The fact that there is so much talk about Facebook security and privacy issues recently, seems to back my positions.
… I’ve recently spoken to a programmer (that I trust) who has looked at the Facebook API and according to him, it is a big mess that people complain about. That to me, speaks to the overall infrastructure.
Thanks for the comment.
Stefan
Hi,
It seems that I’m not the only one who is concerned about Facebook privacy:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/185033/facebook_privacy_complaint_ignites_war_of_words.html
From the article:
“The EPIC complaint — supported by the Center for Digital Democracy, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, and seven other advocacy organizations — takes issue with Facebook’s newly “public” treatment of such data as users’ names, genders, cities, and profile photos. By default, EPIC points out, this information is now disclosed to search engines as well as to third-party Facebook applications.”
I agree that social networking can be used as a tool for generating business relationships. Using Facebook as a tool for this reason has been very helpful in my personal experience. On the other hand, a word of caution to those who mix business relationships with personal relationships via Facebook. Sometimes your employer or potential client doesn’t need to see how fun your trip to Mexico was.
I completely agree. I recently removed myself from FB! ( Suck hole of my time anyway. ) I don’t miss it at all & I am a lot more productive. Plus, as I tell Clients, it’s great to let people share your site with their friends on FB – but if you set up a company fb page – it is a “closed loop” – no extra traffic back to your site or back links ( just allowing a share/save feature or a sexy bookmark is plenty to keep yourself and your site or blog ‘in the loop’ )