Facebook, the popular networking site, has recently undergone a few changes that have left many users with a bad taste in their mouths. The new features are causing an uproar because many people feel that their privacy on Facebook has been violated.
Now, after the changes were made, on every home page of a Facebook account there is a “news feed.” This gives people the ability to log-in and see every detail from who’s dating, who recently broke up or what was changed in a person’s profile, to name a few.
Kristie Sandefur, a sophomore psychology major, feels that the new changes to Facebook are unnecessary. Sandefur said, “I don’t need or want to know what every single person on Facebook did at every single point in the day.”
Approximately 419,304 Facebook users have banned together over the internet to fight against these new features. There have been petitions made and anti-Facebook groups have formed, in hopes that the new features will be eliminated.
Brittany Shields, a sophomore elementary education and special education major, joins the group of users who want Facebook to remove the new features. Shields said, “I think that Facebook was a fun way to keep in touch with your friends, but after the changes were made, it feels like I’m stalking my friends. I think Facebook should go back to the way it was before.”
The biggest problem that Julian Cruz, a junior human resources and management major, has with the new features added to Facebook is the issue that since the changes, privacy seems to be limited. Cruz said, “The new features take away people’s privacy. They give too much detail about things that aren’t a big deal, but may become one because everyone can see.”
According to a blog posted on Facebook by one of the site’s founders, Mark Zuckerberg, there are claims that the privacy options that were included in the original form of Facebook have not been removed, leaving users with the ability to keep information visible to only certain people, just as before the changes were made. In his blog, Zuckerberg realized the dismay that the new features have caused and pointed out that Facebook is still evolving and suggestions are needed to improve the product.
Matt Moore, a junior psychology major, isn’t bothered by the changes that Facebook has made. Moore said, “If you don’t put on Facebook what you don’t want people to see you are fine. That’s what I do.”
