Is FaceBook evolving too fast?

Last night I noticed dissention toward Facebook. Students can set their status to indicate what they're doing. Many of them use it to reflect their current state of life. Scrolling through my friends list, I noticed these statements:

• … is really creeped out by facebook now.
• … is sick of Facebook THINKING it's somehow improving itself when really, its just annoying
• … is pissed at Facebook... why did you have to go and change!?
• … is not liking the new facebook!!
• … is hating faceboOk :).
• … is wondering if they changed facebook just to fuck with her.
• … is Boycotting the NEW facebook!

So what happened? This weekend FB launched some new features. Primarily, adding a mini RSS reader and rearranging the look of profiles. However, one glaring change is that it highlights anything new. For example, if I look at a friend's profile, it tells me So and So just became friends with X, Y, and Z. So and So just added these three new pics. So and So just adding a new movie and changed relationship status. So and So just joined this group and posted this comment. In a nutshell, FB has made it easier to keep up with friends--- but people don't like it. My sense is that it is too revealing. It brings too much attention to updates or changes. It makes things too obvious and too distracting.

It's a little sad because FB had a nice niche. A simple, straightforward look that was easy to use and understand. It developed a sense of community amongst college students, better than any other online site. But now FB has tried to get too fancy and the early indication is that users don't like it. Is there perhaps a lesson to be learned? I am sure there are parallels for the L 2.0 folks, but I'll let someone else tackle that one.

Friendster died because it didn't change fast enough. Facebook looks to be dieing because it is changing too quickly.

Comments

[Angel]

What's the old adage about "if it ain't broke. . ."? I know websites and online services do change, but at times, I wish they would stick to what works and leave it alone (other than any minor technical update needed). Yahoo! messenger is a good example: everytime they "upgrade" it usually makes it worse because they are trying to make something simple into something fancy, with features that are not always wanted. It's a running joke that they "f***grade" instead of upgrade amongst my online friends. Anyhow, be interested if FB folks eventually mellow out and go on as usual. Best, and keep on blogging.

[wulibrarianjoy]

The students on our campus are creeped out by this, too. I thought it was kind of cool, but maybe FB should have tested it on people under 22.

[Steve]

Here is a live counter of the number of people who have joined the "Students against Facebook News Feed" group on Facebook..... 300,000 and climbing

http://digg.com/tech_news/Facebook_Stalker_City_Includes_LIVE_Counter

[Michael C. Habib]

I would argue that Facebook is not evolving to fast, but instead implemented this new feature improperly.

I also think that this episode demonstrates just how well Facebook is doing. It is only because students' identities are so connected with Facebook that they have become so upset. I doubt any of the students will be leaving Facebook anytime soon. That would be social suicide.

I have composed a post outlining some of these points:

On Facebook, identity, and Control

[brian]

Well, it's sort of like new Coke. They dumped the old formula and their loyal customer base was forced to consume a new product. As opposed the gradual shift of MTV from music television into programmed television.

I think FB should have launched it more gradually, and/or, made the changes early in the summer so ppl had a chance to adapt rather than drop on ppl around the start of the semester.

I liked the post on your blog (Steve), but I defer all that L 2.0 stuff to you guys.