You just like to complain.
That’s really my argument, and I could leave it right there. But for fun, let’s proceed down this path for a second.
First, the design changes all the time. My feeling is that you’ve complained every other time, but your behavior has not changed at all. Leading me to question immediately how much you actually care.
Second, imagine Facebook suddenly turned into a pay service. Because, right now, it’s free. Totally free. Yes, they might be selling your information to other people. Yes, you have to look at ads (oh no!). Yes, they make money off of you using them. None of that means the service is any less free by any definition that I’m aware of. And here’s the kicker: you can leave at any time.
So, imagine they want you to pay for it. How much would you pay to keep using the service? $5/month? $10? My guess is it’s a pretty low amount. I think most people wouldn’t pay more than $5 a month.
Why?
Because as soon as that happened, competitors would immediately spring up. Viable ones, not just the usual, impotent upstarts that come along every few months and then disappear with a similar whimper.
And suddenly people would start to investigate other options. Suddenly people would move to a different free service.
Because, at the end of the day, you don’t really care about the design changes. If you leave Facebook because it went pay, but not because of a new sidebar, that means those changes have a smaller effect on your life than the loss of a couple of dollars every month.
Frankly, I don’t think Facebook’s users hate the changes. I think they hate change.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Maybe people are upset about the changes because they feel it disrupts their ability to post vague and offensive statuses in an attempt to cure cancer. Cancer is never going to get cured if Facebook doesn’t smartern up.
Haha, I can’t believe I overlooked that!
I totally hate it because I hate change.
I actually find it messy, but I’ll still keep on using it because it is free and I do need it for some things (like long distance friends I never email or phone) and whatnot (the blog has a page). While I don’t particularly like it, I also figure I’ll just get used to it like I have with every other change they’ve made.
Fair!
The whining is annoying. It’s not your personal web site, people. If you want to own and control the design of a site, you’ll have to set up your own.
It’s the whining without any *action* that bothers me the most, I think. If it’s really that bad, do something about it. Write an open letter to Facebook. Maybe stop using the site. Maybe do something that is actually interesting. The complain-orgy on Facebook and Twitter is pointless and noisy, and nothing more.
I’m with L-A… I have distant friends and family who’ve joined Facebook just to see baby pictures and keep up with me, and who expressed betrayal last time I contemplated jumping ship.
And I also find the ticker really messy and distracting. And did do something – i.e. installed a Chrome extension that makes it go away. If only I could easily tailor my feed, too.
to re-tweet a great image:
SexCigarsBooze David Voth
Facebook: If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer. You’re the product being sold. twitpic.com/6oukaw
If this is all people have to complain about, it’s a pretty great problem to have.