This post (and blog for that matter) is inspired by my recent interest in the social network platform, Google+. I have been a user of Facebook since 2008 and like others, I haven't been happy with the various changes over the years. I'm sure things have improved in some ways, but they've degraded in countless other ways.
The main issue is that Facebook doesn't really seem to care for its own users. There is a certain lack of control that is very concerning, and I feel more like a pawn of some greater scheme. I am an "asset", not a user. Facebook will occasionally introduce and hype up new features in hopes to appease us and get us looking the other way, but they don't care at all for us from what I can tell. Slowly, but surely, the new Terms of Service are written in and ticking away our rights as users. I personally feel that their current views on Intellectual Property that you post on their service are horrific and are reasonable cause for outrage.
For the longest time, there was no viable alternative to Facebook. Myspace's image has been tarnished over the years, Twitter lacks a certain depth, sites like Xanga fell off the map as fast as they were introduced, and an assortment of other networking sites never really took off. While Facebook couldn't be described as great, it was certainly more appealing than the rest. The community had been more tight-knit; the potential had been higher from the get-go. People felt like they could commit.
Time passed. Users established their own social empires: raising friend counts, posting pictures, having a myriad of conversations, creating events, creating groups. Facebook grew. Although user satisfaction was questionable, people became comfortable with the format. So, along comes a promising new service called Google+. Any level of research will reveal that Google+ trumps Facebook; I know that's what I felt as I looked into it. But at the same time, there's a strange phenomenon happening: Silence. The same people that are active on Facebook have rather quiet profiles on Google+. Many with most recent posts dating from months ago. Why is this occurring even in the face of being a much better user experience than Facebook? Apathy.
Even as I contemplate switching over to Google+, I can tell it's no easy task. It means starting all the way over. While Google has features for retrieving all your data, Facebook does not. Unless you have been storing files locally, it means having to retrieve everything before you abandon ship. I don't think you can save your statuses aside from copying them verbatim, but aside from being an interesting historical look into your life, they aren't all too meaningful or hard to part with. Then there's the most difficult task, you have to convince all your friends to jump ship too. It is hardly an easy path to switch, but you just have to commit.
Several months ago, I became fed-up with my Google username and since I couldn't change it, it would mean starting over to get a new one. I hadn't delved into Google's services aside from email and the amount of effort to switch email addresses is astounding. I'm still finding different areas of the web where I used my old gmail address, but I've been successful in my switching over to a new email address. It's not impossible, you just have to commit yourself to a change. I don't even log in to my old account that much anymore.
The problem with Facebook users is the apathy to the whole situation. I feel like the thought is, "Yes, I'm aware that a few of my rights have been stepped on, but I'm comfortable here! It'd be too much to change and get used to another social networking service!" If it's the rights to your photos today, then what will it be tomorrow? As long as they incrementally take away your rights, you won't notice or care too much, right? That's what they're banking on. They care for themselves and not for you, and this willingness to go on with the status quo indicates you care just as little about yourself as they do.
I'm sure you're thinking by this point, "Google is a corporation, too. What makes them any better? Aren't they just as susceptible to this power game that Facebook is involved in?" I know they are. For the moment they are better than Facebook in terms of your rights. If they head in the same direction, they should be abandoned too.
Users have power, corporations don't. Corporations only have power due to the voluntary giving up of power by the users, due to the apathy. If everyone joined hands and left Facebook for good right now, Facebook would crumble or change for the better to stay in the game. At the same time, how could Google+ lose the silence? If users committed to the service. By not posting or communicating on Google+, you are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that Google+ is not as popular or fun. Google+ can provide the tools, but it is up to you to use them. I think the thing you need to realize is: you don't need permission to talk on Google+, you should just talk like you would on Facebook. It will take a while to get the pacing the same, but it won't get anywhere if no one talks. People that have shown any interest in Google+ need to get more excited. If you don't appear to be having any fun there, how will it appeal to the user that hasn't started?
If we work together, we can defeat Facebook or change it for the better. Never ever give up your rights for the sake of staying in your comfort zone. Of course, based on Facebook's stock and other news, maybe it is defeating itself. That would also mean this whole dissection of social networking was unnecessary and I wrote all of this for nothing, but oh well. I'll be happy if people switch to Google+ or make a stronger push for their rights.
This post might have seemed a little schizophrenic, but I hope you understand what I'm driving at. There was a lot of ground to cover and some points could probably be expanded further, but I'm happy with it for now.
Thanks for reading.
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