You know, I'm deeply skeptical about all these gloom and doom arguments about how the internet is messing with our minds and dumbing us down. But, these Facebook folks have got me worried.
Why?
Because they unilaterally mess with the interface, privacy, settings, and so forth, and we have no control over what they do. One morning you wake up and, WHAM! the interface has changed. They may tell you about the changes, and give you some degree of control over those changes, but basically, you have to live with them if you want to continue using FB.
And just why's this evil?
Because it's your mind they're messing with. FB is a portal in the world, you plug-in and there you go, cruising the web. They tell you they're improving the interface, and perhaps they are, in some ergonomic sense. But they're also messing with your mind.
They're messing with your mind! Who gave them permission to do THAT?
This is precisely why I've always been sceptical of web-based apps and have never relied on any of them, not even Google's, for anything involving productivity. Web-based e-mail? Nope, refused it from the day that Hotmail launched. Feature bloat and change for the sake of change have always been problems in software design—few developers are willing to admit that something is actually in a finished state, particularly as that would involve firing people or shoving them onto a new project (which Facebook doesn't really have, since everything fundamentally boils down to a single product). But what we are seeing now is a trend where users are unable to opt out. The networks of personal connections themselves have made Facebook indispensable for many people, and they know from past experience that they can get away with practically anything.
ReplyDeleteThe move towards a "cloud" where computers are nothing but cheap dumb terminals is really nothing new, and in some cases there are good reasons for companies to want to eradicate old versions (primarily security, as Microsoft has found out with IE6), but I've always found it a bit sinister. I need my native software. I need my version control. And the complacency with which people grumble a bit and then adjust their habits to match the tools they're given is extremely worrying.
Agreed. I've been aware of this for some time, but just shoved it to the back of my mind. But the pace of change at FB just keeps the change in your face, and the arrogance with which they dump it on you. This IS dangerous and disturbing.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right about the social network lock-in effect.
It's as though we're being trained to just take it.
From CIngram:
ReplyDelete"I may well be missing some bigger point, but FB is their baby, which they let you use, but on their terms. It should be a window, not an interface. To offer too much of yourself to something you can't control is a bad idea. And complaining won't change the way it is.
It's like drinking whisky to enter a better world and then complaining because it comes with built in aversion therapy. It's just the way whisky is, a window, not a world."
It's not that simple. They make their money by selling my views to their advertisers. Without those views, they have no product.
ReplyDelete