Blogging My Life...
I have been trying to be good with how I use Facebook these days. Yea, I know all about the privacy issues, but I am really trying to use it as it should be used, but for marketing purposes.
But after months of really using it, I still think it makes no sense. The user interface is not intuitive, the privacy controls are a joke, and overall - features seem to have multiple uses depending on what you type.
I pick up things pretty fast, especially when it comes to computer software. Heck, I am a geek. Facebook - it just doesn't make sense to me and it doesn't make sense to most my geek friends. However, to my non-geek friends - they get it, they love it, it works for them.
When I ask my non-geek friends why Facebook works a particular way, they say - because that is how it does it. When I ask my geek-friends, they say they have no idea. But non-geeks get Facebook, they really do. Why do us geeks have such a hard time learning how to adapt to Facebook.
Of course there are some geeks on Facebook for a while who totally get it, but for the whole - I think most geeks think the user interface and features make no-sense.
So why? Why do non-geeks get Facebook while us geeks, who normally get things asap, don't get it?
Oh, by the way, check out my Facebook pages at:
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Comments
That is so freakin' true. I'm with you.
Posted by: Keith | May 13, 2010 1:29 PM
Hmmm- I dunno man.
I used to think I qualify as a geek... but maybe there's hope for me?
Does writing my first application for a Ti89A at 8 years old count? Or what about the fact that any solid-state device I own (wii, PSP, phone, etc) is hacked to run custom firmware (often of my own design)?
What about the fact that my wife can't take me anywhere without fear that I'll turn the conversation to some sort of mobile tech politics debate to random strangers in the street until they politely tell me they don't understand what I'm talking about anymore?
But maybe there's hope yet for me, because, you know, I GET facebook.
:)
All joking aside, its not as much a tech thing as it is a personality thing, IMO. I don't see Facebook as a venue for advertising business as it is a message board for college students that grew out of control. I advertise my business, but that's not why I'm on FB. Its clearly a far cry from its initial inception, and there are definitely things I would change about it if I were in charge, but it still just works for the way I interact socially. ::shrug::
Posted by: Mordy G | May 13, 2010 1:43 PM
A lot of things they've been doing recently just don't make sense. Here's a simple one: to get to the "Videos" section, you have to first click "Photos". Why would Videos be a sub category of Photos?
Posted by: Michael Butler | May 13, 2010 1:46 PM
It's because their advanced features are buried in a confusing maze of forgotten screens. Their common features are in-your-face.
Geeks automatically gravitate towards advanced features. Geeks right-click. Geeks expect chat logs. Geeks look for the word "advanced". Geeks type "site:" into Google. From this perspective, Facebook doesn't have any well designed features for geeks (outside of the APIs, and even calling those "well designed" is a stretch).
Non-geeks just look for a box to start typing into. For non-geeks, Facebook is simple. They see the information on the screen and they see the box to type into.
Here's the thing. Geeks, when using Facebook, KNOW that their friends are posting messages that aren't necessarily showing up in your own news feed. Facebook has a mysterious algorithm which just shows a portion of what some of your friends are saying. So, you have to click around to make sure you're not missing anything a friend has said.
Non-geeks don't get this. They assume that everything they see the instant they log into Facebook is exactly EVERYTHING that every single one of their friends are saying. They don't explore enough to realize this isn't the case, because non-geeks don't explore programs, they just start using them.
Posted by: No Name | May 13, 2010 1:55 PM
That reminds me of when I was figuring out how to sort the application bookmark list in facebook, you have to go to ACCOUNT, then Application Settings, Show->Bookmarked, then click and drag to sort. Under a common user interface this wouldn't be under ACCOUNT. Usually how it functions is just by clicking and dragging directly off the original list. I am not sure why they change things sometimes.
Posted by: Harry Woolley | May 13, 2010 2:14 PM
No Name,
I think you are referring to the "top news" versus "most recent"? That's a relatively easy to find toggle button on the top-right of the feed. Default is top news, since it is assumed that the average person would get overwhelmed with updates from all their "friends" who suffer from what is often referred to as update diarrhea.
New users catch on pretty quickly that sometimes an item you read yesterday appears earlier than a newer one, and its leads people to find that "Most Recent" button. No settings change required.
You're right that FB doesn't have any well designed features for geeks, but I never expected it to. Using facebook requires a different part of my brain than the one that used to hack through linux shells.
Posted by: Mordy | May 13, 2010 2:49 PM