Dear Facebook: Enough With the Changes
Source: Britni Berg
Dear Facebook,
I know that technology is a competitive market, but please stop changing.
Sincerely,
I don’t know how to navigate a timeline, and I don’t really care
Originally, Facebook was great. We became addicted to it as a way to keep up with friends, see what people are doing (OK, Facebook-stalking), and as a way to communicate. But these days, it seems as if Facebook has turned into one big beauty pageant―not for the users, but for Facebook’s design itself. It’s no longer about staying connected but about making Facebook the “prettiest” it can be.
Today, for example, I logged into Facebook today and noticed there was a new timeline feature. I rolled my eyes, which I don’t do too often (my mom would disagree), after hearing that they can actually get stuck like that. But this was an eye rolling worthy moment, I promise you. It’s the first day of winter break, time to relax and just kick back, right? Wrong. Facebook is putting us to work already by changing its features again. Time to learn how to navigate the “new” Facebook for only the 12 millionth time.
Now, things are getting a little out of hand here. Facebook is supposed to be free and easy to use. But this is hard. It takes a good few weeks in order to adjust to the new settings and look of Facebook, trying to maneuver this and figuring out that. Adapting has become second nature to us avid Facebook users, but every few months it seems they like to throw in a curveball. You know what? We’re sick of it, and worse yet, Facebook is preaching to its young users that change in itself makes it “better.” Now that can’t be a healthy lesson.
If something we depend on for so much―or even someone―is constantly switching things up, sooner or later, we may not be able to take that person seriously anymore. Just take celebrities. Think of celebrities changing their hair color, sobriety, or marital status (Kim Kardashian, here’s looking at you) at the drop of the hat. There might just be such a thing as too much change. And what Facebook’s designers may not realize is that Facebook is a modern day celebrity. Plain and simple. Its changes make us judge it the same way we judge Lindsay Lohan.
If a teen girl changed as much as Facebook does, she’d have tried out pink, blue, black, orange, even turquoise hair already. Scary, right? But it’s not just Facebook, it’s every little thing in life. The more something changes, the more change is encouraged. A lesson is stapled onto every change: “this is better.” But change isn’t necessarily better. As taken away from Facebook, change can be scary and frustrating. Maybe designers should take that into consideration when making these “new and improved” features. Is there such a thing as too much change? Facebook users just may not “like” that.
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