Facebook, You’ve Crossed The Line

Since Sept. 11, the American people have gradually been forced to kiss the comfort of privacy goodbye. Between the Patriot Act and wire-tapping we have become all too familiar with a culture that endorses the infringement of privacy. Don't look now, but intrusion and surveillance has reached a new high. This time, the culprit is not a paranoid bureaucrat in Washington D.C., but our old social networking pal Facebook.com.

On Sept. 5, Facebook introduced a supposedly hip and fun layout, where recent Facebook activity is collected and presented on your home page as a "news feed". The powers at Facebook thought it would be a good idea to constantly update users with new information about fellow Facebook friends.

And if that function isn't creepy enough, everyone's personal profile is complimented by a "mini-feed". Whether you have added new pictures or informed the world of a new favorite film, all of your recent Facebook activities are catalouged.

Even though the layout doesn't reveal information that couldn't be exposed previously, the new changes are presented in such a public manner that it seems like Big Brother is not only watching, he's also recording and also announcing every single move.

This plethora of information will surely encourage the obsessive compulsives within the facebook community to intensify their stalking rituals. Sure, it may seem innocent enough to check out the profile of someone who posted on the wall of your crush. But soon enough, that admirer will track down everyone within their crushes' posse and follow them from class to class and party to party.

For the non-stalkers of the world, there are two interrelated problems with the new features. The Facebook world does not need to be notified every time I update my profile. Just because I have posted a new picture, that doesn't mean this information needs to be public. Likewise, I can't be bothered with every modification within my network. When I sign on to the site, I am informed that some random girl I kind of know from the dorms just went from being "it's complicated" to "single." Do you think I need to know that? Do you think she wants me to know that?

For two and a half years, Facebook has captured the hearts, souls, and short attention spans of college students because it was a straightforward and (relatively) lassez faire social networking site. True, Facebook's features have previously been altered. But whether it was adding photos album or even changing status information, these developments were in good taste because they were gradual adjustments, not complete overhauls. They provided the layout, we did the rest.

However, that was then, this is now. We are in the golden age of Web 2.0 and innovation is cherished over comfort. Call me a skeptic, but the only good I see coming out of these changes is...ummmm...wait, they aren't any.

I am not the activist type, but when that rare noble cause comes around, I will throw my support behind it. In the past day, I have joined facebook groups protesting the revamped layout like "I hate the new Facebook" and "The Facebook feed is stalkerish and should be dismantled immediately."

Because the news feed/mini feed tag-team, my Facebook network, ironically enough, is informed that I have recently joined these anti-Facebook groups. Oh Facebook, you're always one step in front of me.

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