Facebook's controversial face lift
Eileen Rush
Issue date: 9/11/06 Section: News
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For many students Facebook has become part of a daily routine. Facebook is a popular online community where students can connect, but the new concern is over whether or not the News and Mini-Feeds make too much information available to the public.
The feeds, added on Sept. 5, allow users to view the headlines of other people's lives, including when someone updated, what they updated, who they added as a friend and when they ended or began their relationships.
For some these feeds seem to straddle the line between "what you should know" and "none-ya-business."
Since Sept. 5 over 1,000 groups have been created about the issue. Opinions range from disgust to support. One group, the Students against Facebook News Feed, states, "We want to feel just a little bit of privacy, even if it's on Facebook. News Feed is just too creepy, too stalker-esque, and a feature that has to go." This group, a self-proclaimed Official Petition to Facebook, boasts nearly 600,000 members. It is not alone in its feelings against the new features.
Many ETSU students express a similar dislike. Darren Caldwell dubbed the Web site "Creepbook." The resentment is based on a feeling of declining security. "There have been an abundance of warnings circulating recently about giving too much information on Facebook," Taylor Hartley told the East Tennessean. "Now, all of the sudden, Facebook itself is giving out users' private information. The fact that others on Facebook can track what I've been doing on the site seems to be ... an invasion of my privacy."
There are others who support the new features of Facebook. One group, the Students For the Facebook News Feed, said, "The News Feed has streamlined Facebook, allowing one page to show you everything that has happened recently."
Senior Hannah Abel had no problem with the new features. "I think that people who are complaining about the News Feed on Facebook are those who put up too much information on their Facebook in the first place. I am a very active Facebook member … however, I know my limits when it comes to personal stuff."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Elizabeth Wilks
posted 9/12/06 @ 7:30 PM CST
I would like to comment about the so called "controversy" surrounding Facebook. I have been on Facebook and saw the many groups complaining about the new Mini Feed. (Continued…)
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