Have you ever been glad when a service you use created a new feature that you had to opt out of rather than asking you if you wanted to opt in?

@nikipedia In terms of the Fluther part of the question, check on the notifications part of your account. You can opt in or out of getting the Fluther newsletter sent to your e-mail just as you can opt in or out or getting comments, etc. notifications sent.

As to the rest of your points, I totally agree with you. I was quite dismayed to see all my g-mail contacts listed as Buzz contacts, and as for things like bank overdraft protections with hefty charges added…....

Having worked at a certain large web company I can tell you there is no point to launching any new features unless they’re on by default. Otherwise nobody would use the new features. People are very, very lazy. Granted there are some things that are a bad idea but you wouldn’t know that unless you have people using them. It’s quite tough honestly because if you do nothing people stop using your product but if you build new features they can get very upset. Clearly testing them on users beforehand is useful but at some point you kind of just have to push it to everyone or not bother in the first place.

It is all for marketing. It is much easier to make a change and notify people that they must opt out. So many don’t.

It’s not that it was a new feature, it’s just that it’s been a while since our last newsletter.

Definitely Google Buzz. That was infuriating, and mildly embarrassing as well. I say I have nothing to hide on fluther or other sites like last.fm, but email is a totally different story.

@timtrueman hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, it’s often a damned if you do, damned if you don’t kind of situation. People always get frustrated with developers adding new features, but many others appreciate them.

With every re-design of the Facebook homepage, there is a monstrous outcry of anguish, as if all hope is lost, and then everyone gets used to it, starts to appreciate the new features, and forgets the old one ever existed.

As for the Fluther newsletter, it’s just low volume, which is really a good thing for you. I also don’t consider that to be a “new feature” since most web sites have them, they’re not intrusive, one-way, and there aren’t any unintended consequences like, say, revealing your personal information to everyone you’ve e-mailed in the past four years.

I hate that part, and even worse, I hate when they ask me to try a new feature, and then don’t give me an obvious way to go back.