Facebook is facing criticism for constant changes that keep users frustrated and overwhelmed. It’s not the Facebook they have come to know and love anymore.
Perhaps the founders are forgetting why their creation was so popular in the first place!
- It was relatively easy to use. Now it’s not and people are having difficulty figuring out how to post, view their Wall, find their list of friends, etc.
- People believed they were only sharing with friends. They weren’t and now users realize their conversations are being monitored and used for marketing purposes.
- Fanpages were free. Now you have to purchase an SSL certificate and have the page hosted if it has any dynamic content.
- Special features promoted conversations. Now they are being taken away – just when users figured out how to use them! Reviews and Discussions Apps disappear on Halloween – how appropriate! Make sure you save any conversations that were in these apps because they will vanish as well!
Facebook can certainly be credited with changing the way we communicate. They did such a good job that other companies have jumped in and created some competition, which is causing Facebook to scramble and keep up. The complexity of these new systems are less attractive to the average user, and Facebook is finding out that their value is actually the 750+Million people who just wanted to stay in touch – and they liked the simplicity of the original system. As users weigh-in in large numbers, Facebook will have to react by keeping it simple for them to use the system. Otherwise, some new kid on the block will come along and take it all away. Remember MySpace?