6 Silly Things Facebook Taught Us About Social Networking

As an early adopter of Facebook, I’ve been able to see the ups and downs of Mark Zuckerberg’s creation. Fortunately, through all of it, I’ve learned quite a few things along the way. Some of these insights are more disturbing than others, while others just make no sense whatsoever.

So let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first:

1. Everyone Loves Farms (and Gangsters)

The words “farm” and “gangster” could never appear in the same sentence, until now. For some amazing reason, people like to build farms and waste people — who’d of thought that? Furthermore, who would have thought that so many people would have been interested in it as well? With all that time spent playing these games, surely people must be unproductive.

2. But It’s Okay To Be Unproductive

Why work when you can play on Facebook all day instead? That’s what most people are supposedly doing on the job anyways. If they don’t have a job at a desk with a computer hooked up to the Internet, they have a job at a local Barnes & Noble with a smart phone and are always “poking” their Facebook friends while they should be sorting magazines (true story). It’s unbelievable, really.

3. Bashing Employers Online: Not So Smart

If there is something that I can expect to see on Facebook when I check it near the end of the day, it is that there is going to be someone on there complaining about their job or their boss. This has traditionally been done with coworkers or friends while talking (yeah, some people still do that), and it doesn’t leave a trace of evidence. Facebook, on the other hand, leaves a trace of everything you do on the site, and considering Facebook’s constant changes to the privacy policy, those complaints might be broadcasting to the world, or to a friend of your boss, or who knows?

4. Privacy Is Pointless

Speaking of privacy: it pretty much doesn’t exist on Facebook — to assume otherwise would be crazy. Posting pictures of you in bars being wild is probably not too smart. A simple solution is to think of Facebook like Twitter: assume everything is being broadcast to the world. It makes you safer and it makes Facebook feel better because that is exactly what the company wants.

5. User Experience Has No Meaning

Just as MySpace, even to this day, has an interface that I can’t even be bothered to deal with, Facebook has been changing around their interface so much that it makes it nearly impossible to get comfortable. But what is worse is that each change seems to be a step backwards. For example, notice how the notifications bar has moved to the top of the page? If you are scrolled down even the slightest bit, the notifications disappear, and I’ve gone hours not knowing I’ve had a new notification simply because I nudged the page down a bit too far. It’s ridiculous!

6. A Boyfriend/Girlfriend Is A Click Away!

If you happen to see the advertising that appears on Facebook, you just might have noticed the nearly endless supply of “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” wanted advertising that appears in the sidebar. I have seen far too many these advertisements (Facebook knows me far too well), with some of them being borderline nudity. Then again, perhaps Facebook is a great place to start building an intimate relationship from. Well, maybe not.

After you share this post with all your Facebook friends (you know you want to), be sure to tell us what Facebook has taught you in the comments below!