Technically, I have enough else to do that I shouldn’t have time for this post, but this issue really stuck with me, so I want to write about it and see what you guys think about it while it’s still newsworthy. Admittedly, this isn’t the most important topic, but it is what’s on my mind. Also, I’m trying to avoid doing work until the last possible minute, but I swear that’s only a minor ulterior motive. :-P And yes, I’m fully aware of all the irony that will be involved in this post; for example, many of you will be alerted to this post through Facebook. Oh, and if you haven’t logged into Facebook recently, you might want to do that before reading any further. Finally, if you don’t use Facebook, you’re going to be thoroughly confused, so just skip to the end of this post (search this post for “/end rant”), where I’ll talk about my first week of classes and whatnot. Ok, enough exposition, let’s do this…
Before class today, I decided to log-in to Facebook because I hadn’t done so in a while (i.e. 12 hours or so :-P). Much to my surprise, the front page looked completely different. I was struck by two thoughts almost immediately: “Wow, that looks really nifty.” and “Wow, this is kind of creepy.” You see, in the past, Facebook only alerted you of when a friend’s profile was updated (and to see that, you had to go into the “My Friends” section) and of upcoming birthdays/events. Now, Facebook not only tells you exactly when a friend’s profile was updated but also enumerates exactly what details in the profile were changed in the past 72 hours or so. Facebook culls all this information into each user’s “mini feed,” a summary of what the person recently changed in his/her profile. To give some relatively anonymous examples from my home page, Facebook has informed me that several of my friends are friends with people I don’t know, some other friends added pictures to their albums, one friend has started a relationship, and another friend just became single. All of this information is presented in a clean, RSS feed style (I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how it was implemented). Upon further inspection, not all of the details that your friends have updated recently are shown on the front page, which makes me wonder how they decide what details to post on the front page and which ones to omit. (If anybody could clarify that, I would appreciate it.) Most importantly, as I read on the Facebook blog, “Your privacy settings remain the same – the people who couldn't see your info before still can't see it now.” So why did this change initially freak me out?
Well, it was completely unexpected, and I’m not used to being privy to all this information about my friends. Before this update, to know what’s changed in my friends’ lives recently, I had to go to the “My Friends” section, see which of my friends recently updated their profiles, click on my friends’ profiles, and examine the highlighted areas to figure out what has changed. Now, as soon as I log-in, I can see virtually all of that information at a glance. And if, unlike myself, you’re the type of person who adds as many people as possible to your friends list, that’s a frightening realization. Suddenly, all of the personal information that you thought only your close friends would bother to check out is extremely visible to ALL of the people listed as your “friends” (meaning people listed in Facebook as your friends, regardless of whether or not they actually are your friends; in my case, the two terms are virtually synonymous). Surprise! All I can say is, I hope none of your “friends” are stalkers, because if they are, their jobs just got a lot easier.
Still, upon further reflection, I’m not as freaked out about this change as I was this morning. As a computer scientist, I can appreciate how much work must have gone into this update. Plus, it really is an elegant presentation of a large amount of information, even allowing you to filter what type of details you’re viewing (click on one of the icons next to one of the details to see what I mean). However, those facts alone doesn’t justify keeping the change. What really makes the update fairly benign is the aspect I briefly mentioned earlier: “…the people who couldn't see your info before still can't see it now.” In other words, Facebook is only displaying your information to people that were already able to see it; they just have to navigate through fewer pages now. It’s also crucial to note that, besides your name and e-mail address, everything else on Facebook is completely optional; you didn’t have to reveal your relationship status, post embarrassing photos of yourself, or share any other personal information that you’re uncomfortable sharing with your “friends.”
Nonetheless, due to this update, I think a few new features should be introduced into Facebook to help people deal with this increased visibility of their lives. First and foremost, the privacy settings need to be more comprehensive. You should be able to specify which of your details will be featured on your friends’ front pages. That way, users can rest at ease in the knowledge that only certain types of personal details will be easily accessible to all their friends. Additionally, you should be able to change what you see on YOUR own front page so that you’re not overwhelmed by the minute details of your friends’ lives. With those two minor changes, we can have the best of both worlds: an attractive, streamlined interface and comfort in our information’s visibility.
And let me emphasize this point again to you: If you’re uncomfortable with a particular detail of your life being displayed on Facebook, take it off. Don’t be a (pardon my language) dick like the guy who made the group “Facebook Members Against Mini Feeds” and complain that Facebook is now “run by Hitler Totalitarian Youth,” such a hyperbolic comparison that its absurdity speaks for itself.
I really want to hear your thoughts on all of what I just discussed. I could be missing something, but I really think the groups springing up to protest these changes are overreacting. If this were done on a national/international level where all the information about you online was readily accessible in one place, even details that you reasonably expected to be private, it would be a different story (I suspect there’s a tool utilizing Google that can do something like that, but I’m not aware of anything specific). Anyone who’s a member of one of these groups want to enlighten me to the error of my ways? ;-)
/end rant
Other than Facebook’s huge facelift, how’s school been? My first evening back was amazing; I went to my friend Tom’s off-campus house and hung out with him and his roommates until 3 in the morning. I even woke up the next day at 8 or 9-ish feeling fully refreshed. Then, once classes began, everything got about as hectic as I expected. The Club Expo started off with the Gaming Club frantically searching for its table; as it turned out, our label was hidden under its tablecloth. Still, we set up only a few minutes late and got 50+ additions to our e-mailing list, not a bad result at all. Yesterday was the club’s first official meeting, and I would estimate the turnout at 30-40 people, with around half of those being new members. It was nerve wracking but definitely successful… although maybe I should wait until seeing next week’s turnout before declaring that.
Classes are going to keep me as busy as always. Right now, I have books to catch up on for two of my classes (three, if you count the class I’m TAing) and, on top of that, three classes worth of homework to complete by the end of the week. So I’m a tad behind but not hopelessly so. However, my TA job and my senior project begin next week and, while I don’t expect the former to be much work until the week of the first exam (2 or 3 weeks from now), I want to get back on track this week, before the inevitable deluge of questions ensues and before the milestones for my project arrive. After all, the semester has barely commenced; school only gets busier from here. The US Open is almost done (farewell Agassi), so that should help.
My new roommates (although I’ve known them since freshmen year, so it’s odd to call them “new”) are a lot of fun. We’ve already had a few communal games of Smash Bros., watched Stargate together, and gone out to breakfast a few times. They’re a bit messier than I’d like (we’ll work on that :-) ), but that’s no different than last year. I’m still adjusting to the loss of the large percentage of my friends that graduated last year, but I think I’m pretty content with my new social circles.
Emotionally, I’m all right. I haven’t exactly preserved the chipper mood I had at the end of the summer and I’ve had a few relapses into depressing thoughts (I won’t dwell on those here), but I haven’t had anything worse than my normal up-and-down days. Mentally and physically, I’m somewhat rusty, but class will fix the former and walking/frisbee (if this rain ever lets up!) will handle the latter.
Whew, that’s enough stalling for one evening. It’s time to get down to that copious amount of work I mentioned. To my fellow students, I hope that your semesters are starting out right. I aim to have another post up 2 weekends from now at the latest. In the meantime, be well!
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