Social Networking (Minus the Networking)

This warning haunts me everyday...and yes it's a real one.

Facebook had the right idea at it's incarnation however things have changed dramatically since 2004. Facebook has always been two steps ahead of other social networking sites. And while MySpace did surpass Facebook for a bit there, it could not compete with the growing popularity of Facebook. Facebook has laid the ground work for social networking sites and nothing has come even close to surpassing it. And as much as I'd like to see something better come along, I don't see that happening anytime in the near future. Facebook has too much of a market and is connected to too many websites currently with the "sign in with Facebook feature."

However it's either time for Facebook to change it's features (and not to the crap we've seen in the past few months) to better serve the online community.

Here's where Facebook falls flat (wah wah):

1. Privacy Features are a major issue for many people. Facebook does say that they have done much to protect users information but I don't believe this to be honest. I think Facebook has ALL our information and has integrated much of our privacy into the algorithm on Facebook.

2. And now the MAJOR problem. Facebook limits our social networking. It basically tells us that we can ONLY know 5,000 people. Yes, that may seem like a lot of people to know, however if we have Facebook over our lifetime the chances of us meeting over 5,000 people is VERY HIGH. Plus socialites meet many more people than the average person, so do celebrities and well-known personalities. We are out constantly meeting people and making connections.  And we are asked to STOP connecting after 5,000? That seems a bit ridiculous.  Facebook claims that it's a spam issue we face with having over 5,000 connections/friends. Really? I mean if you can produce once of the worlds best algorithms, why can't you do something to prevent spamming while still allowing people to connect with over 5,000 people? It's time to update Facebook. And please don't tell me to add a "fan page", I'm not a celebrity and what you can do on a fan page based on having an actual profile page is limited and not for me. I put my website up as a fan page, but that's about all I will do.

3. "Liking" pages becomes an issue when you have too many friends!? This is the worst of all.  So now I can no longer add friends on two profiles, (okay that's fine I created a third) but now I can't even like anymore artists, movies, friends pages, etc. Facebook tells me that I have to delete pages to add more. So now I have to stop showing people that I like something to show them that I like something additionally??? I find this extremely ridiculous considering the amount of things we will like over our lifetime. I've had Facebook for only 5 years and already I've run into major issues to the point that I have to have 4 profile pages.

4. Complicating things makes it worse. Facebook was very easy to use, and yes there were features about it that were annoying, but the constant changes have made Facebook worse! The minute we get used to their new layout, BAM! there's a new one. And the new one gives a thousand more options and confuses the user. Facebook, take some cues from APPLE!

5. GROUPS: Please tell me what MORON at Facebook decided that the best way to get rid of group spam was to create groups that allowed you to PUT everyone in the group without their approval and then make the default setting that you get an email for every post in the group?? Please, please tell me this was not one of your HARVARD graduate employees because an idea this could have only come from a human with the same intelligence as Michele Bachmann (had to).


6. If you're a promoter you know that I don't even have to write out number 6. 


***Anything I didn't add? Oh I'm sure there is. SPEAK!***


I love this cartoon below lol

-Chris Ryan