Facebook Doesn’t Value the User Relationship
April 30th, 2010
When you were growing up, did you have a Magic 8 Ball? I did, and I remember asking it a question, flipping it over, and waiting for the bubbles to clear so I could read the prognostication as it appeared from the murky blue depths. What would it say? Would it be positive, “without a doubt,” or would the outlook be “not so good?” That experience pretty much sums up how I feel about the recent enhancements that Facebook has pushed out on the site. Every time I log in, I wonder what I’ll be hit with next.
I’m talking, specifically here, about two things. The introduction of Community Pages, and the change in how information is displayed, or linked to, from your profile.
When Facebook announced Community Pages, many of us in the higher education community, the people who are responsible for maintaining their institution’s presence on Facebook, were decidedly perplexed and angry. Some of us viewed it as an intrusion to our brands via the Fan Pages that we have worked so hard to set up, cultivate, and promote. Facebook seemingly created all of this change in a vacuum – they didn’t make any attempt to reach out or include the users and brands that this would have an effect on.
Pushing changes out without feedback is nothing new for Facebook – they do this all the time, and when they do it, a sizable chunk of the user base weighs in on the changes, grouses and grumbles, and after a while, things settle down. But it’s different this time – Facebook has now made it very, very difficult and confusing to manage your brand. Thom Atkinson, the Campus Web Manager at Indiana University, Bloomington summed it up nicely with this tweet: “Facebook Community Pages? ‘Cause monitoring your brand online was just way too easy.”
So how could Facebook have executed this better? Well, let’s take a look at how eBay is now trying to roll out new features and services.
When eBay contemplates a change, they make an effort to involve their users through a new website called Garden, by eBay. Right now, they have several features for users to opt-in to trying with their accounts, and each feature provides an easy link for feedback. With some features, like the new homepage design, they even have multiple options for users to test drive and provide input on.
What if Facebook had done this? What if, instead of just rolling Community Pages one afternoon, they created a garden of their own? In that garden, they’d have the ability for users to pilot some new changes to profiles, create sample Community Pages, play around with code for new “Like” buttons, etc. And with each of these features, they’d provide an easy way for Facebook users to give their input on the proposed changes. And, to take it a step further, what if they responded to the feedback, and tweaked the designs and concepts based on what they were hearing?
If Facebook had done the things I outlined above, they’d be seen as embracing their users and involving them in changes to the site. Instead, they choose to show users that they don’t value them, or value creating a relationship with them. Facebook would rather have us juggling our Magic 8 Ball and wondering what these new changes will mean for us and the brands and institutions we help to manage.
Other people with things to say on this matter:
Michael Fienen
Jessica Krywosa
Georgy Cohen
Robinteractive
3 Responses to “Facebook Doesn’t Value the User Relationship”
1ColleenCollect
May 2nd, 2010 @ 9:39 pm
i would delete my fb account in a minute except that two people found me through the site that i hadn’t talked to in 43 years; two people part of an important time in my life. if it weren’t for the internet, it wouldn’t have been possible. i refuse to “like” anything connected political or religious. i don’t want my “friends” to know what i stand for; those two subjects can make or break a friendship. i worry for people’s safety when they post pics of their children, their homes, when they announce their vacations; they are basically advertising when their homes will be empty and when they are coming back. facebook is an invasion of my privacy.
2Hey You
May 3rd, 2010 @ 7:10 pm
Did you ever consider that higher education professionals are a small market of users relative to the total. A lot of users love the changes
Also, the point of Facebook isn’t to control your brand. This is a fatal misunderstanding of what Facebook is
all about.
3head shops
March 7th, 2012 @ 6:41 pm
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