10 ms·

Facebook is worried about users sharing less – but it only has itself to blame

115 points by davidbarker 11y ago

overcast 11y ago
It's time to just face the fact that people are just getting completely sick of posting. It's turned into basically a never ending homework assignment to keep up with it all. Closing my Facebook account last year was cathartic.
- chris_wot 11y ago
  You think we've hit Peak Facebook?
  - overcast 11y ago
    If not, it's getting close. Certainly the original users are getting sick of it, and the new generation wants nothing to do with it.
    - zodPod 11y ago
      Yeah, I have a feeling that the only reason that the new generation will be on it is if their parents make them lol
    - ZenoArrow 11y ago
      That's why Facebook bought Instagram and Whatsapp, and it seems to be working. Both seem to be popular with the younger generation (as far as I can tell) and both continue to grow, even under Facebook: Instagram user stats (acquired around April 2012): http://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-... Whatsapp user stats (acquired around Oct 2014): http://www.statista.com/statistics/260819/number-of-monthly-active-whatsapp-users/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/260819/number-of-monthly-...
  - AimHere 11y ago
    Google trends suggests we hit that in 2013 https://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore#q=Facebook https://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore#q=Facebook
chris_wot 11y ago
Given that Facebook makes "mistakes" in removing posts, like the one that happened to my friend John Dickson [1], is it any wonder folks aren't really using the platform as much as they used to? 1. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/facebook-under-pressure-to-explain-axing-gay-marriage-post/news-story/d05643b4c37fc03ebef44d7188479dca http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/facebook-un...
- a_small_island 11y ago
  pay wall
  - chris_wot 11y ago
    Dunno if you can see this post then: https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjohn.dickson.9406417%2Fposts%2F10154773004509447&width=500 https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2...
  - bunnybender 11y ago
    Google Cache has it: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnational-affairs%2Ffacebook-under-pressure-to-explain-axing-gay-marriage-post%2Fnews-story%2Fd05643b4c37fc03ebef44d7188479dca https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3...
randomgyatwork 11y ago
Imagine someone said, "please go out and toil this field in exchange for some scraps". You'd certainly say no, but when Facebook makes the offer, its seems alright to many people.
sevenless 11y ago
We may be coming back to the "old internet" mentality where we don't write anything we wouldn't want on a poster stuck up in a public place. I'm still astonished by those who use their full names and face pictures on Twitter, etc. Those opinions you've shared online are stuck to you forever now.
- raverbashing 11y ago
  And that's why you should be careful with what you share
- mcgrath_sh 11y ago
  That is why I have a professional twitter account. I post interesting news and tech articles, I give my opinion on things in tech, and am careful about the language I use, even when being critical (no swearing, polite but firm, correct grammar, etc.) I use my full name on this account, and tie it to my LinkedIn and my website. This way, when employers or whomever are looking for me, they find my professional twitter that is relatively active. I trim my Facebook friends once a year. If I wouldn't stop in the street and have a 5 minute conversation with you, you are not my friend on facebook. Yes, this means I can't spy on my old HS Quarterback, but I don't care. I also use facebook more as a way to see what is out there about me and to monitor that than to actively post content. The last 15 posts I have made have been "go team" or "we did this fun thing today." My last rule is to avoid politics as much as possible on all platforms. The only political stuff I engage in is tech related, such as drones, encryption, etc. I won't touch on hot button issues that can burn me.
  - ZenoArrow 11y ago
    > "My last rule is to avoid politics as much as possible on all platforms. The only political stuff I engage in is tech related, such as drones, encryption, etc. I won't touch on hot button issues that can burn me." I totally understand why you would do this, I try to limit what political news I share with those around me, even if it's what I spend a lot of my time reading and watching. However, isn't this a problem long term? How are we going to address the issues in our society if we're not prepared to discuss them? I find myself unsure about how to share important news without turning people off. Perhaps the best way in most (but not all) cases is to sugar coat it with humour.
zodPod 11y ago
I think another thing that is a huge factor is the dilution effecting interaction. The spam from timeline advertising and the hundred different pages that everyone is subscribed to throughout the years, I barely see anything that anyone DOES post anymore. I have something like 175 people on my "Friends" list and, when I post something, I usually only get a like or two if that. I've stopped scrolling through my timeline because it's mostly filled with bull crap that I don't care about from random pages that paid to be in my face or random pages that I liked 5 years ago and would now rather they just shut up. Why would anyone put effort into writing a post out? No one sees it and no one does anything with it if they do. It's pointless. Like @overcast said, people are just sick of posting. It used to have a purpose. 50 people would see it, they'd all like it and comment their opinions on it. Now nothing. It's still Facebook's fault partially for laying out the groundwork for Facebook to become total garbage.
- rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
  >It's still Facebook's fault partially for laying out the groundwork for Facebook to become total garbage. The moment I stopped using Facebook - hell, the moment I stopped enjoying Facebook - was when they published their findings that they could manipulate people's moods by what they show them. Ever since I've felt like a rat in a cage, being prodded and tested not as a human being, but as a user. And so if that is Facebook's way of looking at me, then as far as I am concerned, Facebook is just a website. A website I barely use.
  - turaw 11y ago
    Don't you feel that way on most sites? I mean, conceivably, HN could be manipulating your feelings as well by fingerprinting your browser and using a different ranking algorithm.
    - rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
      Precisely. It is unnerving how many websites and corporations try to "play God", so to speak. Any instance of manipulation makes me feel used, and that lack of trust never really goes away. I get that services want me to see stuff that is "most relevant" to me, but there is no room in relevance for serendipity, and it brings to mind the line from Equilibrium: "..The comfort of knowing your life has been lived before."
aub3bhat 11y ago
I think a significant amount of interaction has shifted to Instagram and Snapchat. There is little reason to share anything other than a random political post on facebook. The only places on facebook where sharing actually helps, are Open/Semi-open/private groups.
- rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
  There are too many niche social networks these days. Aside from those you mentioned, you have Subreddits and Stack Exchanges for pretty much everything you could form a community around. Actually, I think that's Facebook's problem. It's not a community. It's an interactive contact book. You're expected to add everybody and the conversation turns to mush. As the Roman philosopher Seneca said: "To be everywhere is to be nowhere."
- HenryTheHorse 11y ago
  Add WhatsApp to that list. Its usage has exploded in the last 3 years.
robbiemitchell 11y ago
"You have one identity," he emphasized three times in a single interview with David Kirkpatrick in his book, "The Facebook Effect." "The days of you having a different image for your work friends or co-workers and for the other people you know are probably coming to an end pretty quickly." He adds: "Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity." source: http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/13/zuckerberg-privacy/ http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/13/zuckerberg-privacy/
- kdamken 11y ago
  Unless you don't friend your coworkers, or have a separate account for personal and professional networks.
- sevenless 11y ago
  That is a troubling quote. Having compartmentalized identities is part of the human condition, and social websites can't ignore that. It raises questions about Zuckerberg's own mental state, if he believes it.
  - mjevans 11y ago
    This is also what troubles me about anything that requires a 'real name'. I also don't understand why, E.G. Google, or companies like Google would be against this; I'm effectively telling them how to target ads by the context I use.
  - jkeat 11y ago
    This is why Google Plus circles make so much sense. Most substantive Facebook activity I've seen lately takes place in groups.
    - f_allwein 11y ago
      Yes - shame that circles (or G+) didn't really catch on. You could do vaguely similar things on FB by defining who your close friends are, bu I doubt many people do that.
- 11y ago
imgabe 11y ago
I've been using the News Feed Eradicator for Chrome for a while now so I can still get event invites without getting sucked in to mindlessly surfing the newsfeed. It's been pretty helpful. I'll still check the feed on the mobile site on my phone sometimes, but much less than I used to. At some point it just became people sharing articles so that everyone could agree with them. There's also a lot of people being outraged about things and demanding that I also feel outraged about whatever the injustice of the day is. It gets very tiresome and is mostly a waste of time IMO. That's not even talking about the clickbait, which I started resolutely blocking. Whenever a post has a clickbait title I'll choose "Don't show me posts from this page / site anymore". It cleaned up a lot, but even what's left just isn't that great in terms of content.
makecheck 11y ago
The problem with Facebook is the same feeling I get when any random store, event or web form asks for an E-mail address: “oh great, what unsolicited crap will you start sending me?”. And it is the same mentality that led to ad-blocking. If entities could be trusted not to be total jerks with over-marketing, maybe people would share and Like things more. Instead, a simple “Like” is virtually guaranteed to result in new spam. A very simple thing Facebook could do: mandate that each Page (and even itself) may not send more than one message per MONTH. Period. And set a maximum length. Hire some editing people if you must, and make that message count. Don’t just assume you can send hourly updates to all your “followers” as if they care more about you than their own families.
zxcvvcxz 11y ago
The attitudes of this company and its founder are becoming more and more irritating. The other day he started getting more political about immigration and open boarders [1]. I get it, he's a globalist proposing his own self-interests. But it doesn't take a genius to see his hypocricy, living in a gated fortress with private security, being shuttled around various places occupied exclusively with the 1%. I predict that Facebook is pretty fucked in about a decade from now. I already see the demographics tipping - all the younger girls I've dated prefer Snapchat, and use FB only as a force of habit, and even that's waning. People closer to my age group don't want to post anything that could possibly damage their real identity's reputation in anyone's eyes: goodbye interesting content. Older people who used the internet before 2000 really do see the value in anonymity and alternate identities and don't see it as "a lack of integrity" [2]. And let's not forget about clickfarms [3]. It's not going to die like MySpace, but it's not going to be anything special, either. [1] - http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/telecom/internet/facebooks-plan-to-connect-the-world-is-not-just-social-its-political http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/telecom/intern... [2] - http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/13/zuckerberg-privacy/ http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/13/zuckerberg-privacy/ [3] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag
- soundwave106 11y ago
  Yes, I can easily see Facebook declining as far as a general social network goes, unless something changes. Zuckerberg's attitude about not keeping your public and private life separate really needs to change in this regard -- one of the big reasons I hear people avoid Facebook is the lack of privacy. Kind of fitting that Snapchat is the new rising star. Having said that, right now, Facebook still seems to be one of the dominant tools for business to consumer communication. (In particular, many small businesses survive with an online presence of a minimal web page and a Facebook site for day-to-day updates.) You never know, but unless something rises to challenge that angle of Facebook, I don't see them going away anytime soon.
f_allwein 11y ago
Really interesting read. I thought myself recently that it would be nice to have a place where you could read only your friends' updates, but that's not FB anymore (and hasn't been for a long time). Then I guess it's more profitable for them to be "the Internet" for as many people as possible. Wonder what will be the alternative? Many fragmented social networks? Or one that's open and does not have commercial interests?
lowbloodsugar 11y ago
It is something of a noticeable absence that I'm not "Friends" with my boss and coworkers, but at the same time, I'm not willing to risk sharing aspects of my personal life with them. If Facebook would add context, I'd share more. Otherwise I'd need two separate accounts and I can't be arsed.
golemotron 11y ago
I've been surprised that Facebook never did anything like Google+ Circles. People in your family don't need to see everything that your coworkers see, and your coworkers don't have to see who you are dating. If Facebook had circles, I'd share more. The fact that they don't makes me believe that either there's a patent in place, or Facebook has an ideological position. Something like "we're making the world better by making more connections and interactions transparent." If that's the case it's both sad and doomed to failure as "context collapse" shows.
- rimunroe 11y ago
  Facebook's "Circles" are called "Lists", and UX aside, I think Facebook's Lists are a lot better than Google+'s Circles. I actually got a chance to talk with some Google+ folks at an event while the beta was still going on, and asked why I couldn't say "share this post with all the people in my 'friends' Circle but not with anyone in my 'coworkers' Circle", which is something Facebook's lists allow you to do quite easily. Their response was that this wasn't a feature they wanted to add because it didn't serve most people's use cases.
Animats 11y ago
Sharing is spamming. I'd like to see posts only, and not see "sharing" at all. You can block sharing on a per-user basis, and I do a lot of that.
tsunamifury 11y ago
I think its pretty obvious that the majority of users are burned out on "publishing" their own content and are more than happy to slide back into a re-professionalized world of super-users and regular consumers. Where they do want to create their own content is in chat. I dont think this is a great mystery and FB is very aware of it. Its why Mark kept saying "The best way to privately share" instead of "Chat" when referring to messenger.
artpepper 11y ago
- I don't trust their privacy settings. - Most of my feed is links to stuff elsewhere on the Internet. - If I post, I have no idea whether their algorithm will actually show it to my friends. - I get the feeling their algorithm prioritizes posts with images or video over pure text. - Hard to post to subsets of friends. I know you can manage lists, but the UI is clunky. (And I don't trust their privacy settings.)

115 points by davidbarker 11y ago

It's time to just face the fact that people are just getting completely sick of posting. It's turned into basically a never ending homework assignment to keep up with it all. Closing my Facebook account last year was cathartic.

chris_wot 11y ago
You think we've hit Peak Facebook?
- overcast 11y ago
  If not, it's getting close. Certainly the original users are getting sick of it, and the new generation wants nothing to do with it.
  - zodPod 11y ago
    Yeah, I have a feeling that the only reason that the new generation will be on it is if their parents make them lol
  - ZenoArrow 11y ago
    That's why Facebook bought Instagram and Whatsapp, and it seems to be working. Both seem to be popular with the younger generation (as far as I can tell) and both continue to grow, even under Facebook: Instagram user stats (acquired around April 2012): http://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-... Whatsapp user stats (acquired around Oct 2014): http://www.statista.com/statistics/260819/number-of-monthly-active-whatsapp-users/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/260819/number-of-monthly-...
- AimHere 11y ago
  Google trends suggests we hit that in 2013 https://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore#q=Facebook https://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore#q=Facebook

chris_wot 11y ago

Given that Facebook makes "mistakes" in removing posts, like the one that happened to my friend John Dickson [1], is it any wonder folks aren't really using the platform as much as they used to? 1. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/facebook-under-pressure-to-explain-axing-gay-marriage-post/news-story/d05643b4c37fc03ebef44d7188479dca http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/facebook-un...

a_small_island 11y ago
pay wall
- chris_wot 11y ago
  Dunno if you can see this post then: https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjohn.dickson.9406417%2Fposts%2F10154773004509447&width=500 https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2...
- bunnybender 11y ago
  Google Cache has it: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnational-affairs%2Ffacebook-under-pressure-to-explain-axing-gay-marriage-post%2Fnews-story%2Fd05643b4c37fc03ebef44d7188479dca https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3...

randomgyatwork 11y ago

Imagine someone said, "please go out and toil this field in exchange for some scraps". You'd certainly say no, but when Facebook makes the offer, its seems alright to many people.

sevenless 11y ago

We may be coming back to the "old internet" mentality where we don't write anything we wouldn't want on a poster stuck up in a public place. I'm still astonished by those who use their full names and face pictures on Twitter, etc. Those opinions you've shared online are stuck to you forever now.

raverbashing 11y ago
And that's why you should be careful with what you share
mcgrath_sh 11y ago
That is why I have a professional twitter account. I post interesting news and tech articles, I give my opinion on things in tech, and am careful about the language I use, even when being critical (no swearing, polite but firm, correct grammar, etc.) I use my full name on this account, and tie it to my LinkedIn and my website. This way, when employers or whomever are looking for me, they find my professional twitter that is relatively active. I trim my Facebook friends once a year. If I wouldn't stop in the street and have a 5 minute conversation with you, you are not my friend on facebook. Yes, this means I can't spy on my old HS Quarterback, but I don't care. I also use facebook more as a way to see what is out there about me and to monitor that than to actively post content. The last 15 posts I have made have been "go team" or "we did this fun thing today." My last rule is to avoid politics as much as possible on all platforms. The only political stuff I engage in is tech related, such as drones, encryption, etc. I won't touch on hot button issues that can burn me.
- ZenoArrow 11y ago
  > "My last rule is to avoid politics as much as possible on all platforms. The only political stuff I engage in is tech related, such as drones, encryption, etc. I won't touch on hot button issues that can burn me." I totally understand why you would do this, I try to limit what political news I share with those around me, even if it's what I spend a lot of my time reading and watching. However, isn't this a problem long term? How are we going to address the issues in our society if we're not prepared to discuss them? I find myself unsure about how to share important news without turning people off. Perhaps the best way in most (but not all) cases is to sugar coat it with humour.

zodPod 11y ago

I think another thing that is a huge factor is the dilution effecting interaction. The spam from timeline advertising and the hundred different pages that everyone is subscribed to throughout the years, I barely see anything that anyone DOES post anymore. I have something like 175 people on my "Friends" list and, when I post something, I usually only get a like or two if that. I've stopped scrolling through my timeline because it's mostly filled with bull crap that I don't care about from random pages that paid to be in my face or random pages that I liked 5 years ago and would now rather they just shut up. Why would anyone put effort into writing a post out? No one sees it and no one does anything with it if they do. It's pointless. Like @overcast said, people are just sick of posting. It used to have a purpose. 50 people would see it, they'd all like it and comment their opinions on it. Now nothing. It's still Facebook's fault partially for laying out the groundwork for Facebook to become total garbage.

rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
>It's still Facebook's fault partially for laying out the groundwork for Facebook to become total garbage. The moment I stopped using Facebook - hell, the moment I stopped enjoying Facebook - was when they published their findings that they could manipulate people's moods by what they show them. Ever since I've felt like a rat in a cage, being prodded and tested not as a human being, but as a user. And so if that is Facebook's way of looking at me, then as far as I am concerned, Facebook is just a website. A website I barely use.
- turaw 11y ago
  Don't you feel that way on most sites? I mean, conceivably, HN could be manipulating your feelings as well by fingerprinting your browser and using a different ranking algorithm.
  - rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
    Precisely. It is unnerving how many websites and corporations try to "play God", so to speak. Any instance of manipulation makes me feel used, and that lack of trust never really goes away. I get that services want me to see stuff that is "most relevant" to me, but there is no room in relevance for serendipity, and it brings to mind the line from Equilibrium: "..The comfort of knowing your life has been lived before."

aub3bhat 11y ago

I think a significant amount of interaction has shifted to Instagram and Snapchat. There is little reason to share anything other than a random political post on facebook. The only places on facebook where sharing actually helps, are Open/Semi-open/private groups.

rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
There are too many niche social networks these days. Aside from those you mentioned, you have Subreddits and Stack Exchanges for pretty much everything you could form a community around. Actually, I think that's Facebook's problem. It's not a community. It's an interactive contact book. You're expected to add everybody and the conversation turns to mush. As the Roman philosopher Seneca said: "To be everywhere is to be nowhere."
HenryTheHorse 11y ago
Add WhatsApp to that list. Its usage has exploded in the last 3 years.

robbiemitchell 11y ago

"You have one identity," he emphasized three times in a single interview with David Kirkpatrick in his book, "The Facebook Effect." "The days of you having a different image for your work friends or co-workers and for the other people you know are probably coming to an end pretty quickly." He adds: "Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity." source: http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/13/zuckerberg-privacy/ http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/13/zuckerberg-privacy/

kdamken 11y ago
Unless you don't friend your coworkers, or have a separate account for personal and professional networks.
sevenless 11y ago
That is a troubling quote. Having compartmentalized identities is part of the human condition, and social websites can't ignore that. It raises questions about Zuckerberg's own mental state, if he believes it.
- mjevans 11y ago
  This is also what troubles me about anything that requires a 'real name'. I also don't understand why, E.G. Google, or companies like Google would be against this; I'm effectively telling them how to target ads by the context I use.
- jkeat 11y ago
  This is why Google Plus circles make so much sense. Most substantive Facebook activity I've seen lately takes place in groups.
  - f_allwein 11y ago
    Yes - shame that circles (or G+) didn't really catch on. You could do vaguely similar things on FB by defining who your close friends are, bu I doubt many people do that.
11y ago

imgabe 11y ago

I've been using the News Feed Eradicator for Chrome for a while now so I can still get event invites without getting sucked in to mindlessly surfing the newsfeed. It's been pretty helpful. I'll still check the feed on the mobile site on my phone sometimes, but much less than I used to. At some point it just became people sharing articles so that everyone could agree with them. There's also a lot of people being outraged about things and demanding that I also feel outraged about whatever the injustice of the day is. It gets very tiresome and is mostly a waste of time IMO. That's not even talking about the clickbait, which I started resolutely blocking. Whenever a post has a clickbait title I'll choose "Don't show me posts from this page / site anymore". It cleaned up a lot, but even what's left just isn't that great in terms of content.

makecheck 11y ago

The problem with Facebook is the same feeling I get when any random store, event or web form asks for an E-mail address: “oh great, what unsolicited crap will you start sending me?”. And it is the same mentality that led to ad-blocking. If entities could be trusted not to be total jerks with over-marketing, maybe people would share and Like things more. Instead, a simple “Like” is virtually guaranteed to result in new spam. A very simple thing Facebook could do: mandate that each Page (and even itself) may not send more than one message per MONTH. Period. And set a maximum length. Hire some editing people if you must, and make that message count. Don’t just assume you can send hourly updates to all your “followers” as if they care more about you than their own families.

zxcvvcxz 11y ago

The attitudes of this company and its founder are becoming more and more irritating. The other day he started getting more political about immigration and open boarders [1]. I get it, he's a globalist proposing his own self-interests. But it doesn't take a genius to see his hypocricy, living in a gated fortress with private security, being shuttled around various places occupied exclusively with the 1%. I predict that Facebook is pretty fucked in about a decade from now. I already see the demographics tipping - all the younger girls I've dated prefer Snapchat, and use FB only as a force of habit, and even that's waning. People closer to my age group don't want to post anything that could possibly damage their real identity's reputation in anyone's eyes: goodbye interesting content. Older people who used the internet before 2000 really do see the value in anonymity and alternate identities and don't see it as "a lack of integrity" [2]. And let's not forget about clickfarms [3]. It's not going to die like MySpace, but it's not going to be anything special, either. [1] - http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/telecom/internet/facebooks-plan-to-connect-the-world-is-not-just-social-its-political http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/telecom/intern... [2] - http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/13/zuckerberg-privacy/ http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/13/zuckerberg-privacy/ [3] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag

soundwave106 11y ago
Yes, I can easily see Facebook declining as far as a general social network goes, unless something changes. Zuckerberg's attitude about not keeping your public and private life separate really needs to change in this regard -- one of the big reasons I hear people avoid Facebook is the lack of privacy. Kind of fitting that Snapchat is the new rising star. Having said that, right now, Facebook still seems to be one of the dominant tools for business to consumer communication. (In particular, many small businesses survive with an online presence of a minimal web page and a Facebook site for day-to-day updates.) You never know, but unless something rises to challenge that angle of Facebook, I don't see them going away anytime soon.

f_allwein 11y ago

Really interesting read. I thought myself recently that it would be nice to have a place where you could read only your friends' updates, but that's not FB anymore (and hasn't been for a long time). Then I guess it's more profitable for them to be "the Internet" for as many people as possible. Wonder what will be the alternative? Many fragmented social networks? Or one that's open and does not have commercial interests?

lowbloodsugar 11y ago

It is something of a noticeable absence that I'm not "Friends" with my boss and coworkers, but at the same time, I'm not willing to risk sharing aspects of my personal life with them. If Facebook would add context, I'd share more. Otherwise I'd need two separate accounts and I can't be arsed.

golemotron 11y ago

I've been surprised that Facebook never did anything like Google+ Circles. People in your family don't need to see everything that your coworkers see, and your coworkers don't have to see who you are dating. If Facebook had circles, I'd share more. The fact that they don't makes me believe that either there's a patent in place, or Facebook has an ideological position. Something like "we're making the world better by making more connections and interactions transparent." If that's the case it's both sad and doomed to failure as "context collapse" shows.

rimunroe 11y ago
Facebook's "Circles" are called "Lists", and UX aside, I think Facebook's Lists are a lot better than Google+'s Circles. I actually got a chance to talk with some Google+ folks at an event while the beta was still going on, and asked why I couldn't say "share this post with all the people in my 'friends' Circle but not with anyone in my 'coworkers' Circle", which is something Facebook's lists allow you to do quite easily. Their response was that this wasn't a feature they wanted to add because it didn't serve most people's use cases.

Animats 11y ago

Sharing is spamming. I'd like to see posts only, and not see "sharing" at all. You can block sharing on a per-user basis, and I do a lot of that.

tsunamifury 11y ago

I think its pretty obvious that the majority of users are burned out on "publishing" their own content and are more than happy to slide back into a re-professionalized world of super-users and regular consumers. Where they do want to create their own content is in chat. I dont think this is a great mystery and FB is very aware of it. Its why Mark kept saying "The best way to privately share" instead of "Chat" when referring to messenger.

artpepper 11y ago

- I don't trust their privacy settings. - Most of my feed is links to stuff elsewhere on the Internet. - If I post, I have no idea whether their algorithm will actually show it to my friends. - I get the feeling their algorithm prioritizes posts with images or video over pure text. - Hard to post to subsets of friends. I know you can manage lists, but the UI is clunky. (And I don't trust their privacy settings.)