By now, you’ve probably gotten your Facebook news feed exactly the way you want it. Constant FarmVille invites? Deleted. TMI status updates from your mom? Hidden.
So you might not be too happy to hear that Facebook may plan to “open the floodgates” on those carefully placed filters.
Facebook users are already venting about it on — where else? — their Facebook news feeds:
“Another reason to let Facebook slowly go the way of Friendster,” said Chris Hauck.
“Just when you thought you got the hang of FB, they talk about changing it,” said Kim McCully.
“Get ready for more ads on Facebook…Only, this time…they will be added to your “news feed”…Can you say “Google+”…!” said Ken Wold, who probably won’t be around Facebook much longer.
Facebook has changed its look before. Is it worth getting up in arms about this time? At first, the changes sound innocuous enough:
“We are currently testing a feature within News Feed that gives people the ability to see what their friends are commenting on and ‘liking,’ as these actions are being taken on Facebook,” said a Facebook spokesperson in a statement.
So will we need a “dislike” button for this potential “unfiltered news stream?” Sounds likely. These changes aren’t designed to make life easier for Facebook users. Instead, they’re being made to help advertisers spam our news feed to the max:
Facebook’s algorithms don’t display every piece of content that is shared, limiting the impact of the campaigns, said Ian Schafer, chief executive of New York-based digital marketing firm Deep Focus. “It’s wasted potential,” he said.
It’s a good thing Facebook has been so cryptic about the changes and when they’ll be made. That way it’ll be easy enough to blame it all on fake media hype after user outrage convinces them not to go through with it.
