2008 Woodie Awards
Facebook Mini-Feed disturbs avid users
Elizabeth Pusack
Issue date: 9/14/06 Section: News
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Klaatu barada nikto! Do not destroy the earth! Thus spoke Klaatu to Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still, and these were the otherwise articulated sentiments of many avid Facebookers the day of the arrival of the fleetingly infamous Facebook Mini-Feed.
For many students, what the Mini-Feed essentially enabled was efficient stalking. While mysterious letters, twisted candles and false notes were all elements of Nancy Drew's amateur sleuthing process, the same hush-hush information could now be accessed without so much as having to click on "My Friends." Facebooking quickly went from hands-on to fingertip-on.
"Before you could uncover these details if you were carefully monitoring your friends profiles but here it's ALL spelled out. It's invasive!" said Emily Cordes '09, a daily Facebook user.
It is difficult to deduce the precise nature of the threat aliens-like Gort-pose for humanity. Likewise, it is hard to pinpoint what exactly it was about the Mini-Feed that so disturbed the masses. Is it that Big Brother is watching? What if there was a Mini-Feed not only for our virtual lives but also for our real lives? (At 9:33 p.m. Jane Smith went to the bathroom and used 15 sheets of toilet paper. Jane Smith said "See you at Stir Fry Night!" to her lab partner at 10:45 a.m.). Or is it that we are embarrassed to be publicized spending more time living virtually than living literally? We all like to be techno-savvy, but perhaps not this techno-savvy.
For a few days, we lived in tumultuous times. The Mini-Feed had spawned a virtual rebellion and the founding of myriad Facebook-loathing Facebook groups from "FACEBOOK REDESIGN SUCKS-PASS IT ON" to the charmingly terse "The New Facebook Blows." Following in the footsteps of our French counterparts, American students took a stand speaking out on the issues that most affect us. Only instead of education reform or job security, they chose Facebook. As a result of our unification under a common cause, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues relented, returning us to the good old days of joining groups like "That Tree is Far Away," free from the prying eyes of friends, acquaintances and people we hooked up with.
For many students, what the Mini-Feed essentially enabled was efficient stalking. While mysterious letters, twisted candles and false notes were all elements of Nancy Drew's amateur sleuthing process, the same hush-hush information could now be accessed without so much as having to click on "My Friends." Facebooking quickly went from hands-on to fingertip-on.
"Before you could uncover these details if you were carefully monitoring your friends profiles but here it's ALL spelled out. It's invasive!" said Emily Cordes '09, a daily Facebook user.
It is difficult to deduce the precise nature of the threat aliens-like Gort-pose for humanity. Likewise, it is hard to pinpoint what exactly it was about the Mini-Feed that so disturbed the masses. Is it that Big Brother is watching? What if there was a Mini-Feed not only for our virtual lives but also for our real lives? (At 9:33 p.m. Jane Smith went to the bathroom and used 15 sheets of toilet paper. Jane Smith said "See you at Stir Fry Night!" to her lab partner at 10:45 a.m.). Or is it that we are embarrassed to be publicized spending more time living virtually than living literally? We all like to be techno-savvy, but perhaps not this techno-savvy.
For a few days, we lived in tumultuous times. The Mini-Feed had spawned a virtual rebellion and the founding of myriad Facebook-loathing Facebook groups from "FACEBOOK REDESIGN SUCKS-PASS IT ON" to the charmingly terse "The New Facebook Blows." Following in the footsteps of our French counterparts, American students took a stand speaking out on the issues that most affect us. Only instead of education reform or job security, they chose Facebook. As a result of our unification under a common cause, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues relented, returning us to the good old days of joining groups like "That Tree is Far Away," free from the prying eyes of friends, acquaintances and people we hooked up with.
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