Attention: Facebook Luddites — STOP WHINING!

In case you’ve been living under a rock, there have been some major changes to a few social networks lately. There’s the “more” button at the bottom of one’s Twitter page, which allows you to see more of that person’s tweets without having to go to a completely different, “older” page like you used to. Also, there’s a more subtle, yet helpful one for those new to Twitter, which is a random little definition of a Twitter term in their homepage sidebar. LinkedIn had some minor changes, too, such as only showing your inbox on your homepage if you have unread messages, which make so much sense I wonder why it wasn’t always that way.

Then there’s Facebook, which practically went under the knife on one of those extreme makeover shows, and has a totally different look/feel. As usual, whenever Facebook makes some major changes, a barrage of idiots unhappy users bitch and whine about how they want the “old” Facebook back. They even form groups and protest like they’re participating in some kind of political movement. (Last I checked, “change” was a major theme in America. What — change the country but don’t change Facebook? Pfft!)

I’ve got news for people bitching about the newest look for Facebook:

Social networking sites are FREE. As in, CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. If Facebook were a pay service and they suddenly made changes you didn’t like, sure, go ahead and kick and scream all you want. But the majority of the people complaining about the “new” Facebook don’t really know what the OLD Facebook was like. Should Zuckerberg & Co. decide to revert back to the “old” Facebook, it would only be available to college students at Harvard and have very limited features. Is that what you want? Really?

What you think you want “back” is whatever Facebook was like when you first joined, whenever that was, because that’s what you knew first. If I said I wanted the “old” Facebook back, it would be really lame and only limited to college students, because that’s what it was like when I signed up. And since I’m no longer in college, I wouldn’t even have access to it.

Social sites, much like software, much like hardware, much like anything, evolve over time. Changes will be made as more people use a product. You may not like all of them, but the usability that Facebook has now is tremendous compared to when it began. When you first started listening to mp3s, did you kick and scream to bring CDs back? When you first started listening to CDs, did you cry and complain that you wanted cassette tapes back? Not bloody likely.

Innovation happens. It is in our very nature as humans to want to improve upon what already exists. People will always be misoneistic at first (that’s your new word), but without innovation, we wouldn’t be online in the first place. We’d still be drawing pictures of oxen on cave walls with berry juice and goats’ blood or something.

There will be more changes to Facebook and to other social sites you are using. It’s inevitable. Only in the next round or two will you realize how ridiculous you sound now, because that’s when all the people who are just signing up for Facebook will be making the same “We want the old Facebook back!” cries that you are now. Your “new” Facebook will be their “old” Facebook, and so on.  My suggestion to you is that you just get over it and be grateful that it’s free.

Am I being too harsh here? Are you picking up what I’m layin’ down? Please share your thoughts, especially if you think I’m in the wrong.

Photo 1 by rutty, photo 2 by tbridge.