By now, the protests about the new Facebook are probably on a slow simmer after the initial outcry. I've even noted among my friends a sort of "I guess it's not so bad" to a "Oh, I'm getting used to it now" kind of resignation. Yet there are the copy and paste pleas to "hover over my name and click to remove my comments from the sidebar". I'm still on the fence as to whether that's prudent or paranoid.
Even though I felt like an old lady curmudgeon, I was among the first to grumble the other morning when greeted with the blue icons and little ticker thing in the corner.The comments in agreement came fast and furious.
Like everyone I found my way around Facebook efficiently, quickly scanning the recents, likes and such. I'm sure that was the problem, as if we didn't spend enough of our lives on this delightful time suck.
I'd already learned to hide the games so that I was oblivious to who was searching for a lost pig in Farmville. I'd developed automatic blinders to all the page news I'd liked at one time or another but wasn't quite ready to delete. Ads? Are there ads, yeah, I know but I never look. The "you better post this status demands" felt so much like a chain letter threat, this postal worker's daughter could easily ignore them with little guilt. So I was all comfy in my fb routine.
I've already been through several phases of Facebook fatigue since I was probably among the first fifty-somethings to sign on. But I still visit often. When you've moved as much as I have, the opportunity to stay in touch and reconnect with everyone from everywhere you've ever lived is reassuringly sweet.
Supposedly we haven't seen all the changes yet to come. But here's where I'm at with it right now. I hate the ticker thing, that's supposed to be more like Twitter. I liked that Facebook was not like Twitter. I keep friends and family on Facebook, while Twitter is for mostly professional purposes. I have to say the comments out of context aren't satisfying content so I don't bother to read them.
Mostly I just hate the tiny little window that holds all the comments, just like I hate tight spaces in real life. I like my info full screen.
I do like the absence of email notifications. I saw those emails as spoilers. Redundant spoilers that took all the fun out of seeing the little red circle telling you that someone liked your incredibly witty take on life or wanted to say hi after 20 years. Now when I open up Facebook, the little red circle seems like a gift, probably the closest thing to an unexpected letter in the mailbox.
No different than when they re-set a store so we have to learn a new shopping pattern or they discontinue our favorite lipstick color, we complain but eventually adjust and find a new favorite. I'm sure we'll be griping about how were perfectly fine with FB 2.0 when the next big change eventually rolls around.
How about you, what do you like, unlike or simply detest about these changes?
