Pages 107-214 in the book, The Facebook Effect, by David Kirkpartrick, are mostly about new features that were added to Facebook, as well as the many successful companies that were interested in buying the company from Mark Zuckerberg. It also touches upon MySpace's success and Facebook's great desire to be everything that MySpace isn't/wasn't. As I read further and further into the story of Facebook, I start to develop mixed feelings. Where on one hand, I feel that all the newly added features and openness to allow everyone on Facebook are great, at the same time, I also feel that Facebook begins to kind of sell out as time goes by. I mean, maybe they had no choice, but to make Facebook accessible to everyone or to rapidly expand their advertising seems like a loss of authenticity. People were able to convey a very clear and real picture of themselves through their Facebook profiles when networks existed, but when networks were eliminated, people felt the need to be more guarded or protective over themselves. Without a more tight knit network, a sense of trust is lost.
The invention of a news feed on Facebook was a great idea. When the news feed function was first introduced to Facebook, many people were outraged because they did not feel comfortable with their status information and whereabouts being posted instantly for everyone to see. But as uncomfortable as everyone was, it did not take long for people to get used to. Today, as a user of Facebook, I feel like the news feed is Facebook's number one attraction because you don't need to visit every single individual's profile in order to obtain an update on one's life; the news feed instantly publishes updates on your friends lives in real time. It is also a quick way of keeping in touch with multiple people at the same time without actually having to communicate with them. These days, people rarely have time to stop and converse with everyone on their friend list. The invention of the news feed on Facebook was one of the reasons that MySpace rapidly differed from it until they too, invented a news feed. Also, where MySpace was a place where you could create your own profile and meet new people, Facebook is a place to keep in touch with people who are already your friends in real life. I admire Mark Zuckerberg's determination to keep Facebook mostly under the ownership of himself rather than under big corporations like MySpace currently is. There is a reason that MySpace is failing and Facebook is not.
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