This just smacks of not getting it, and may imply why a free and open facebook alternative may not be possible by the open source community. Facebook is a produ

This just smacks of not getting it, and may imply why a free and open facebook alternative may not be possible by the open source community. Facebook is a product, targeted using hooks generated from real relationships to a specific audience. A blank text field for gender goes against any conceivable UX/UI improvement and makes no sense. The author of this blog is saying that the text field for a gender is just one symptom of a large problem with a team that doesn't have the experience of building a serious product. If we assume that 1% of the US population is Transgendered, that leaves 99% of people who are now receiving a substandard experience because of the feelings of a minority that don't wish to choose other or blank for one ui element. That's just stupid product design.