Top 5 Facebook Pet Peeves

I've been on Facebook for almost six months, and for the most part, I've really enjoyed my experience there. I've been a bit slow to embrace social networking, and for a long time, I was content to just have a MySpace account. Then one day I noticed my MySpace friend list dwindling, as increasing numbers of MySpace members left MySpace to focus exclusively on Facebook. I felt like the last person on the Eastern seaboard not to have a Facebook; it was clear if I wanted to network, stay in touch with friends and meet new people online, I'd also have to move to Facebook.

Creating a Facebook page was a lot quicker and easier than I thought, and in no time at all, I was Facebooking like everyone else! The power of this social networking site is truly amazing; however, there are a few things that bother me on Facebook. Here are my top five Facebook pet peeves.

Facebook Pet Peeve #1: Facebook Site Redesigns

Random Facebook site redesigns can really confuse the Facebook newbie. I remember when I first joined Facebook last December, it took me a while to figure out how to upload photos, keep track of which friends were online, view my applications and so forth. Just when I thought I had mastered Facebook, I logged in to discover the site had been completely redesigned (presumably to give the Facebook user a "better experience").

I felt completely confused, and had to learn to navigate Facebook all over again. Also, I wasn't given any warning that Facebook was redesigning the site, so it was a complete surprise to see the new interface. I preferred the older Facebook design that was in place when I first joined the site, but I did eventually get used to the new Facebook. I liked the toolbar that stretched across the entire bottom of our Facebook homepage that we could customize with bookmarks such as photos and our favorite applications. I often find myself surfing around new Facebook trying to complete tasks and I found the old Facebook design more intuitive. If you're like me, the new Facebook look is one of your biggest Facebook pet peeves!

Facebook Pet Peeve #2: Facebook Requests to Like a Page

Just because I added you as a friend on Facebook, it doesn't mean I now want to be inundated with requests to "like" a page you suggest (these suggestions used to be called "fan page" requests and I think that was a more accurate term). I recently accepted a Facebook friend request from a fellow writer, who works a lot on a site where I no longer add articles on a regular basis. This new Facebook friend started sending me repeated Facebook requests to like a page that promoted her articles from this writing site where I am no longer active. I declined her request once and thought that would be the end of it, but then she started sending me the request every few hours, sometimes as much as five times a day!

Unfortunately, I had to remove her from my Facebook friend list. The same thing happened with the young actress trying to promote her personal Facebook page, who started to IM me on Facebook, asking me to look at her page and could I please hit the like button? When her repeated Facebook page suggestions felt intrusive and it all got to be too much aggravation, I dropped her from my Facebook friend list also. I'm pretty easy going about Facebook, but I think bombarding another Facebook member with repeated requests is rude, and it's a huge Facebook pet peeve.

Facebook Pet Peeve #3: Boring Facebook Interface

Being a Facebook member means saying goodbye to those funky little things we used to take for granted on MySpace, like LOLcat graphics and glitter comments! Still, I'm a bit nostalgic for the creativity and self-expression of MySpace. When I signed up at MySpace, I recall the excitement of my MySpace page as a blank canvas, to be filled with my likes and dislikes, my "about me" section and my blog, and dressed up with an ever changing series of cool backgrounds (I liked sunsets...)

Facebook is stripped for action and isn't about any of the niceties like cool expressive backgrounds, graphic comments, or written expressions about the user, like blogging or long biographies. Facebook serves up a boring plain white background and encourages the user to sum up their information in small digestible bites. From what I've seen, I'm not sure Facebook even encourages the use of complete sentences, but it gets the job done as a place to share and instantly update information in real time.

Another thing that bugs me about Facebook: the use of extremely small text. I don't need reading glasses and my vision is fine, but still I sometimes find myself squinting and leaning into the screen to read Facebook comments. I wonder why Facebook text has to be so darned tiny. Since Facebook has become essential to human communication, it follows that Facebook would at least make the site more readable. But no! Not only is Facebook quite boring and unimaginative to look at, it's also a challenge for the eyes, and the uninspiring look of Facebook with hard to read text is a major pet peeve.

Facebook Pet Peeve #4: Facebook Privacy Concerns

Ever since I joined up at Facebook, I've wondered about the privacy of my Facebook information. Facebook gives its users a series of complicated privacy filters and controls, but wading through my privacy settings I still wonder: just how secure is my Facebook information? Random Facebook glitches that occasionally expose private Facebook user information to public eyes are certainly a matter of concern. I'm also concerned about the potential gathering of Facebook information and how that data might be used.

How do I handle Facebook privacy concerns? Since I'm a freelance writer for web sites, I do leave my Facebook wall and some information available for everyone to see, as I'm trying to promote my articles. I don't expose my Facebook friend list or my Facebook photos, and they are visible to friends only (or friends of friends). I believe that Facebook members should use caution posting anything that might be sensitive or embarrassing, just in case Facebook information isn't truly private. Concerns about my Facebook privacy are at the forefront of my Facebook pet peeves list.

Facebook Pet Peeve #5: Facebook Promotes Loneliness

Since I've been on Facebook, I've experienced a strange, unexpected phenomenon: Facebook, the site that brings people together, can actually make you feel lonelier. I'm not sure exactly how Facebook contributes to loneliness, but something about social networking sites like Facebook makes me long for the days when communication was something that happened face to face.

I fear that Facebook may someday replace a lot of face to face interaction that is essential to human intimacy. I try to add mostly people I know in some way to my Facebook page, but I do accept requests from interesting creative people who have similar interests like art, acting and writing. I notice my fellow Facebook members in a race to add as many Facebook friends as possible; meanwhile, I just plug along with a rather small friend list (fewer than one hundred friends). I see people on my Facebook list adding twenty new friends at a time, in the interest of "networking." They're racing to add as many Facebook friends as possible, but when they reach the Facebook friend limit (of several thousand friends) what then? How will they have room to add people they really know and interact with, and what is the real value of adding thousands of "friends" who are complete strangers?

Facebook breeds loneliness in lots of stealthy ways, and it's a huge time suck also. It's easy to get caught up reading your Facebook news feed and not realize that valuable working time has evaporated into thin air while you've been Facebooking. It can be really hard to add someone on Facebook and realize they have rejected or ignored your request. I believe there can be a lonely quality to posting your life on Facebook, and reading an endless stream of Facebook updates, and I often long for the days that you had to meet in person to share things like photos and news. I remember the days when we didn't need to broadcast our every move or thought to our Facebook wall, and I don't believe we were the worse for a little restraint and discretion. The loneliness of Facebook bothers me, so I'm including it as one of my Facebook pet peeves.

While I enjoy my time on Facebook and recognize that it's becoming as important to human life as food, air, and water, I do believe we should be aware of the potential pitfalls of social networking sites. Facebook is great, but along the way I've developed several Facebook pet peeves. What are yours?

Sources:

Personal experience on Facebook

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176399/Consumer_groups_hammer_Facebook_privacy_violations_in_federal_complaint

http://www.medindia.net/news/Facebook-Adds-to-Loneliness-Does-Not-Decrease-It-63099-1.htm