By Michelle Gao & Erin Hayes
Gargoyle assistant editor & staff reporter
Posted Tuesday, September 12, 2006, The OG, opinions

When a new “News Feed” feature was introduced to Facebook on Sept. 5, the response was overwhelmingly negative.

This new feature allowed users to see everything that their friends were doing, and by everything, we mean everything. You can see specific social interactions, such as when people become friends or a couple; it shows you the actual text that your friends post on each other's walls; it even shows you changes in favorite bands or movies. Even the smallest movement doesn't escape the News Feed.

Last week, we and other Gargoyle staff members corresponded online about the changes. Michelle wrote: “So I just logged in a few minutes ago, and it was kind of shocking. Now I know that so-and-so just commented on so-and-so's wall, and this person joined THAT group, and …. The idea that all of my friends will now know every little move that I make is somewhat frightening. I think the new feature should definitely go.”

Groups such as the Students Against Facebook News Feed (Official Petition to Facebook) and NORMAL PEOPLE AGAINST THE NEW CREEPIER FACEBOOK! were formed in protest, and countless others contacted the Facebook administration with complaints.

Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg's somewhat condescending response letter (titled “Calm Down. Breathe. We hear you.”) posted the night that the new feature was launched, didn't admit to any wrong. He only put a different spin on things: “Nothing you do is being broadcast; rather, it is being shared with people who care about what you do — your friends.” His letter also stated that he was confident that once people got used to the new feature, they would also find it as exciting as the creators did.

Not many people saw it that way. Even more groups were formed to protest the feature, and today, Sept. 12, was chosen to be “A Day Without Facebook,” a mass protest intended to show the Facebook administration that its users were disgruntled. The major Web site organizing the protest said, “Do we want to replace Facebook? No, but it would be nice to have the organization be responsive to the concerns of the vast majority of its users.”

The Web site also stated: “It is almost impossible now to keep your information to yourself. In the last year this has become incredibly important as we have seen judicial actions brought against students based solely on photos posted on Facebook, we have heard of cases concerning actual stalking where Facebook was the accused main form of information, and we have seen employers who have begun using Facebook to check on potential employees.”

After the whole scandal was covered by both print and online publications, from Time to USA Today to The Times of London, Mark Zuckerberg wrote another letter on Sept. 8, although the tone of this one was extremely different from the first. In fact, the opening sentence was, “We really messed this one up.”

He went on to explain that the original intention of the feature was to make Facebook easier to navigate and more efficient, and that they had made a huge mistake when they did not include privacy controls right away. He also said that he was grateful for all of the feedback and protests, even though he still believes that News Feed is a useful feature when used correctly.

“Even though I wish I hadn't made so many of you angry, I am glad we got to hear you,” he wrote. “And I am also glad that News Feed highlighted all these groups so people could find them and share their opinions with each other as well.”

The boycott on Facebook was called off after Zuckerberg apologized and altered the feature so that users can select which features are published to the feed. The quick response time is somewhat gratifying, but we hope that the Facebook administration will think twice the next time they think they have a “useful” feature.

Update: Just after this article was written came news of another Facebook change: The site will open its membership to everyone, not just college students, its original user group. (Uni students could become members because of their affiliation with the U of I.) Will this blow up into another controversy? Today's New York Times quotes Aaron Cohen, chief executive of Bolt, a social networking site: “The point of Facebook is the exclusivity. If they don't have that, what do they have that MySpace doesn't have?” For the Times' coverage, click here.