It started happening on Tuesday night. First I saw one person mention a little something, then another, and another. I will now never forget where I was that night.
The night Facebook changed.
Well, kinda changed. Sorta. In a few small ways. If you saw the reactions though, you would have thought that there was a revolt going on against a terrible dictatorship. "Bring back the old FB!" and variations of such were all over the now "mangled" news feed. Never mind the fact that these are just the latest changes of an ever-evolving Facebook. In two months, this will be the "Old Facebook" and most people won't even remember how the last one looked.
A few things came to mind for me while watching the impassioned protests unfold:
1. My generation is the generation that got Obama elected. They voted for him cause they wanted "change". Change in everything other than their social networking sites I guess. Does this mean I get to call them narrow-minded now? I don't mind the changes, and in some ways like them. Does this mean I am a "progressive"? What alternate universe have a I found myself in!?
2. During the Revolution, colonists protested against oppressive ruling power and defied odds to even hold meetings. Abolitionists protested the slave trade and at great peril helped many escape and eventually changed the country. Generations of our country have been marked by people who saw what they believed was wrong and risked everything to make it right. Fast forward to present day, and people are sitting in the houses, staring at their computers and complain that a free service is making it harder to see how many crops their "friends" have on Farmville at any given time.
3. People don't seem to want what a customer is. Posting pictures of your weekend regrets does not make you a customer of Facebook. You are the product. They sell advertisements on the site based on how many people log in. Their product is access to you. Therefore, if you want to stick it to the man, i.e.: Zuckerberg, I suggest not logging on to post a statement about how much you hate the latest Facebook. No, they don't care about your little protest picture, and yes, you just help make him richer. Congratulations.
Today they announced an actual major change to the looks of Facebook profiles. I personally think it looks awesome. I can't wait to hear the whining though for this current edition… I'm sure it will be posted all over their profiles they hate so much.
