Why is Facebook so f'ing confusing?

I really think part of the reason is so you fuck up your settings and they have access to all sorts of stuff. I don’t allow any apps anymore, because I find those the most suspicious. Did you get the timeline? I have avoided it. I find the timeline page really confusing.

I KNOW RIGHT???????

Theories:
Because Mark Zuckerberg is evil.
Because constantly updating their interface will mean you will eventually share something that used to be private, but isn’t anymore, during that 13 hour or so period from when they change the settings, to when you hear it and are able to change them back again, allowing them to prove that they really are all about openness.
Because Mark Zuckerberg feels the need to get in a pissing contest with the rest of Silicon Valley.
Because if they aren’t leading the way, constantly changing, they’re rather obviously dead last.
Because Mark Zuckerberg is horribly insecure, and needs the attention, even if it means negative attention.
Because this way, they stay relevant, and people don’t notice all those other social networks popping up that might be better.

I recently canceled my account. Fuck Facebook.

In addition to the above, you might consider that Facebook is desperately trying to find the thing that makes them last.

@jca I find Facebook f’ing confusing too. Some people don’t seem to but I do.

@JLeslie I don’t like Timeline either. I am going to resist it to the bitter end.

And @FutureMemory I would ditch Facebook too, but it helps me stay in touch with and up to date with old college and school friends, distant family and some of my wis.dm buddies.

Um, didn’t they make everyone change against their will back on March 15th? Because I had to go and change everything that day, even though I hate timeline.

I don’t really get Facebook either. I sort of post things and then hope I’m not intruding on people’s threads (even though they are public). Or even though I can see this person’s posts and I am a friend on their list, should I say ..“oh I like that”. Weird. And when I have made some sort of update myself, I am always thinking – well this is probably quite lame.

I don’t know how most of the things on FB work. I sort of just wander about aimlessly (figuratively speaking), contributing to people’s threads and mostly at a complete loss with the whole thing. That sort of works for me though. I don’t really FB with anyone other than the people from Fluther I know. On my FAKE book page. I like to do that though.

@Aethelflaed I’ve heard that but I think that they are rolling out the update. I could have Timeline and not even know it, because I’ve been told that your feed looka the same to you, I think, like the old Facebook, but on the other hand, some of my friends certainly don’t have Timeline yet. I should log on with my other identity and see if I already have Timeline, I guess.

@lillycoyote If you go to your profile page, you’ll be able to see if you have timeline. I’m not a huge fan of it, but have gotten used to it.

It really does astound me that a site as hugely popular (and profitable!) as FB can’t seem to manage to make things user friendly. You can’t even stylize your text, and we can do that here!

So do you have to ask for a timeline? I don’t think I have one.

@Bellatrix No, you’re going to get it whether you like it or not, unfortunately. Go check your profile, and see if you’ve got it. If you want to know what it looks like, check my profile page. I’ve had it for ages. :/

I’ve never recognised the appeal & never will.

GQ! I found it confusing too. Since most of my friends can adapt to such changes, they often make fun of me. I am on FB for just to be there. What I do on FB: login, see today’s posts, say happy birthday when possible, add friends, probably chat, and log out. That’s it. I haven’t touched any apps or any other thing.

Hail @augustlan! I always spend more time here on fluther than FB (more time?...all of time, perhaps). I very much like fluther! And, there is no lurve on FB!

@Aethelflaed Nope. A bunch of us still have a regular page. Some people clicked on “get timeline” without realizing they did when they accepted an app, or wanted to view a link sent to them.

It’s not confusing. Some people don’t take the time to read FAQs or instructions.

Not to be snarky, but I don’t understand the confusion. I changed my privacy settings to be exactly what I want years ago and have never had any problems with it. The account changes always seem completely pointless to me, but not confusing.

This is something I just found out about FB. If you are on your FB page, does the address in the top address bar say: https://www.facebook or http://www.facebook? The “https” is secure and the “http” isn’t. You can change your settings so it is secure.

Facebook just want to make you feel you have control over your privacy settings. And then they invade your homepage with updates you do not expect. That’s the game. They need to force interaction otherwise FB becomes irrelevant and would die.

@mazingerz88, I don’t think changing the format is equivalent to changing your privacy settings.

@nikipedia I’ve had my privacy settings changed a couple times. It’s not every time they change something, but it does happen when they change the privacy settings and make open the default, instead of locked down until told otherwise.