Sam Michel/Flickr
When Facebook went public with its IPO on May 18, investors were itching to get a piece of the Facebook pie. Shares jumped to $42 and there was a lot of buzz about how rich investors, including Facebook employees, were going to become. However, just as fast and people started scooping up shares, the price started to decline amid insider trading allegations and the question over how sustainable is a company without a tangible product. In fact, according to an AP-CNBC poll, half of Americans think Facebook is a passing fad. There are many good arguments for why Facebook, in some capacity, is more than likely here to stay. However, there are many things Facebook could afford to fix.
- Timeline – Timeline has been unpopular since it was unveiled. There are some changes coming to Timeline that Zuckerberg hopes will help with his struggling IPO. However, getting rid of Timeline all together would be the best idea.
- Relationship status options – “It’s complicated” is primarily for junior high kids. Really, there are far more different types of relationships than Facebook is willing to acknowledge. Facebook has changed the definition of relationships. Now, people actually wonder how legitimate their relationship is unless it is “Facebook official.” There needs to be more options, because even though Facebook is not officially a dating website…it is a dating website. And that guy or girl you met last weekend wants to know if you’re “single and looking.”
- Privacy settings – Zuckerberg has been dealing with complaints about privacy since Facebook began in 2004 and is still dropping the ball. Nothing should automatically sync with Facebook. No one cares about which Miranda Lambert song you listened to on Spotify this morning. Also, people should be allowed to prevent their profiles from showing up in searches. This used to be a feature and it went away, sadly.
- Notifications – There needs to be a way to avoid getting a notification when someone comments on a post after you. How are you to know that 27 other people will also want to comment on that same status update? Since Facebook got rid of the thumbs down button it had a long time ago, more statuses require comments, thus leading to more notifications, which can get annoying.
- Presumptive advertisements – Go ahead, change your status to “single” and see how all the ads change to dating websites. Or, even worse, be in a relationship and see how Facebook assumes you want to get married…now! The same stereotypes also work for age, as well. Not all older people are ready to retire and not all young people just want to buy shoes.
What do you think Facebook needs to fix in order to prevent it from fading away as just another fad?
© Vox Talk 2011
I agree that Timeline is pointless. It’s cool for personal use, but honestly no one is going to look through your timeline. But does the person who wrote this post even use Facebook???
1. There never was a dislike button to begin with.
2. You can “unfollow” posts you comment on so you won’t receive notifications when someone comments. When you receive the notification, in the notification drop down window, there will be an “x” next to the notification. Clicking it will unfollow the original post.
3. The ads aren’t annoying honestly. They aren’t plastered all over the place, and just like any other web site, they are very easy to ignore.
4. Nothing “automatically” syncs with Facebook. Things only sync when you give it permission to do so. I have a Pinterest, and nothing goes on my Facebook because I selected the option to not have it post on my Facebook.
1. Facebook DID have a thumbs down button available through an application at one time, I had it around 2006. It was an optional feature, third party app. It was not integrated on the standard Facebook platform and was made unavailable with updates.
2. Facebook is no fad; however if Facebook fades away, it will only be to the next, better, bigger social networking site.
3. While we should be extremely wary of “data mining”, we should also remain increasingly vigilant of our civil liberties which generation Y seems to not know they legally possess. When Facebook knows you’re on your monthly cycle and offers you a coupon for Tampax, I hope you would not ignore the invasion of some privacy, Marie. Whats next? Will Facebook know we are crying over a break up and offer to print a Kleenex out for us? CREEPY!
4. Welcome to the future.