Facebook suggests contacting dead friends

As per
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091026/...r-870a197.html

Quote:

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Facebook's latest revamp has upset some members by recommending they get in touch with friends who have died.

The social networking site, which is used by 300 million people worldwide, made the controversial changes at the weekend.

One of the most prominent additions is an automatically-generated box suggesting the user "reconnect" with a specific person they have not contacted for a while.

But within hours, dozens of users reported feeling distressed when the new feature told them to get in touch with someone deceased.

More than 900,000 have reacted against the changes by joining a group calling for the site to go "back to normal".

"Facebook just suggested that I reconnect with someone who passed away two years ago. That's messed up," one person wrote on Twitter.

Another user, Emma, 27, was confronted by the image of a deceased friend when she logged into the site at the weekend.
[...]

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I think that's just insensitive on their part. I know Facebook has a history of pushing unilateral, unfavorable changes on their users, but if they don't fix this it's really going to reflect poorly on them.

I feel sorry for anyone who got upset over this. While it's good to remember those who have passed away, I think having their profile pictures shoved in our faces unexpectedly on a website is a bit much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gilgamesh

As per
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091026/...r-870a197.html




I think that's just insensitive on their part. I know Facebook has a history of pushing unilateral, unfavorable changes on their users, but if they don't fix this it's really going to reflect poorly on them.

I feel sorry for anyone who got upset over this. While it's good to remember those who have passed away, I think having their profile pictures shoved in our faces unexpectedly on a website is a bit much.

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I freaking HATE the new format. I felt like they needed to revert back to the "old way" before reading this. I doubt they'll do it even with this, but they'll definitely look at options to potentially disable it.

I dunno, it seems like something (and I'm going to sound really cold here) that they'll have to deal with. Having someone who is deceased as a friend on facebook is bound to bring up things like this. How is facebook meant to know they're deceased? If the deceased person used one of hundreds of Apps on facebook, their name is going to appear in your notifications every once in a while, and if that says something like "Deceased Person challenged you to a quiz", as I keep getting from many notifications on a daily basis, then so be it. It's how facebook works. That's not to say that it won't make someone feel bad when they get told to reconnect with a deceased friend, but it's a good addition, IMO, I have many friends on facebook that I really should speak to.

On the topic of the new format in general, I like it. I didn't at first. I also liked the old format. I didn't at first. Remember when they changed it before? And everyone complained? And they changed it again. Now everyone's complaining, saying they want the old one back. The new one is an improvement, goddarn it! It now puts things like new photos on Suggestions box is now way better, including groups, fan groups, and, yes, reconnecting with old friends.

I'm with dawes on this one, although (correct me if I'm wrong) all the wall stuff / news feed is triggered by some activity from a friend - so prior to this the worst that could happen is

posted "blah-de-blah" on 's wall.

Regardless, I wouldn't call this change insensitive. If they had some means of checking whether a user was deceased but chose not to bother - that would be insensitve. Implementing such a feature would be an absolute minefield anyway. This is clearly a case of a scenario they didn't fully anticipate and it's kind of understandable. It's a social networking site, the purpose of which is to relentlessly stalk people interact socially with others... they are simply promoting that. Whether or not it needs to be changed for this reason, I'm not sure. Maybe the "tell me less about this person" feature could be used to filter dead friends manually from this update, that seems like a logical choice to me.


As for arbitrary changes to the interface... On top of what Dawes said, if you use facebook enough that the interface is second nature to you, you'll pick up the new interface within a couple of weeks unless you are essentially refusing to learn it. If you don't use facebook that much, like me, it'll make no real odds. The primary reason people dislike the changes are that they're different and unfamiliar.

To be honest. How will Facebook KNOW if they are dead?

But, as soon as they do.. Account = Deleted.

Oh don't get me started on the new layout. With the recent "News Feed/Live Feed" garbage, I'm now forced to post from my Profile instead of the Home because the "Share" button doesn't work there anymore for some reason. So much for making things better.

I have an objection to this new "you should talk to this person because you haven't in a while" thing too. If I want to talk to someone on Facebook, I will. If I haven't interacted with someone in a while, I know I haven't and I may have a very good reason not to. Why should Facebook bother me about this stuff? Suggesting friends I might not know about is fine, but this is a bit intrusive. What next, is Facebook going to organize arranged marriages??

Facebook is a social tool, but I feel it's more and more turning into some kind of nagging net-grandma, and I really don't care for that.

"Message From Facebook : Did you remember to pack an apple in your lunch, dear?" :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gilgamesh

Oh don't get me started on the new layout. With the recent "News Feed/Live Feed" garbage, I'm now forced to post from my Profile instead of the Home because the "Share" button doesn't work there anymore for some reason. So much for making things better.

I have an objection to this new "you should talk to this person because you haven't in a while" thing too. If I want to talk to someone on Facebook, I will. If I haven't interacted with someone in a while, I know I haven't and I may have a very good reason not to. Why should Facebook bother me about this stuff? Suggesting friends I might not know about is fine, but this is a bit intrusive.

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Well the share button works fine for me from the home page and it's not actually anything to do with the layout per se... it's just a bug if it doesn't work :p

The second paragraph is interesting though, as it's the complete opposite of what I feel. I specifically don't want it recommending friends, and I certainly don't want it recommending me as friends to other people. The reconnect feature suits me fine, I can just ignore it, whereas "recommend new friend" just results in people I haven't spoken to in 10 years adding me as a friend then, after I click "accept" out of politeness, they never actually speak to me, but simply serve to fill my newsfeed up with their uninteresting lives. At least the reconnect reminder is just a tiny little square over in the corner. It's far less intrusive to my mind.

Simply put: everyone uses the site in a different way, not all of the features will be useful, or even desirable to you. That's not a reason to stop the site from changing / evolving. Especially when it's free ;)

Wow, rtm is doing exactly what I'm thinking. Hmmm...*BRING DAWESBR A SANDWICH*

Also, the new updates FIXED the Share button for me - up until now, the Share button did nothing on ANY of the pages 99/100 times.

Man, you guys are late on the Hate train aren't ya?

I read an article in Time a WEEK ago which discussed the problem and states the Facebook just released a new policy which fixed the issue; a profile will be shut off from public view and will stop updating if the family send over a few forms confirming if they're dead. You may think it's a hassle, but if you're so butthurt over receiving updates from beyond the grave it's most likely worth it.

And the "recommended" features on Facebook are inobtrusive anyways.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rtm223

[...]whereas "recommend new friend" just results in people I haven't spoken to in 10 years adding me as a friend then, after I click "accept" out of politeness, they never actually speak to me, but simply serve to fill my newsfeed up with their uninteresting lives.[...]

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So true. I've gotten invites from people who I went to High School with... the problem being that my last year ended on a sour note and I wanted nothing to do with the school or anyone in it after graduating. Once you've moved on there's really no going back.

I also have a few ex-coworkers on my list. Although I am friendly at work, I never cared to make friends there, so I really don't have anything to say to these people.

Still, it's interesting to see how people use and view Facebook differently.

Simple solution: Make everything optional, customizable and open source. Pick and chose what you want, where you want it, how you want to see the information. Customization is the way forward for every user interface.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by adlingtont

Simple solution: Make everything optional, customizable and open source. Pick and chose what you want, where you want it, how you want to see the information. Customization is the way forward for every user interface.

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I agree with this. I loathe the new interface, but some people like it, so the ones who loathe it should have the right to choose.

I was on Facebook while it updated...it was odd, to say the least.
Thing is, Facebook's thick.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Astrosimi

Man, you guys are late on the Hate train aren't ya?

I read an article in Time a WEEK ago which discussed the problem and states the Facebook just released a new policy which fixed the issue; a profile will be shut off from public view and will stop updating if the family send over a few forms confirming if they're dead. You may think it's a hassle, but if you're so butthurt over receiving updates from beyond the grave it's most likely worth it.

And the "recommended" features on Facebook are inobtrusive anyways.

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I love how everyone ignored this :|

Facebook sucks and is a waste of time!!!!!!!

You just need to buy a special keyboard.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1037/...9dbe8582a4.jpg

OK, I think this thread is going nowhere. Festering hate is a bad thing.
Mods, please lock?

I see.

So there is Internets in Heaven.
:D