Facebook has been taking a good deal of heat lately, and rightfully so. The company's pattern of screwing up and then deploying PR tactics, which only screw things up further, seems to embody the true definition of insanity. This makes me think it might be time for a Face-change on the old corporate masthead -- a new "main pic," if you will.
Hear me out: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, came up with the idea for Facebook one day in his dorm room. Perhaps he had snacked on too many magic mushrooms that day, or maybe he tired of watching the same Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reruns and decided to conjure up wild plans for new ways to foster his unsociability. Whatever. Who knows. But needless to say, it's doubtful he had an inkling that Facebook, originally intended as a social network for Harvard students, would turn into the global phenomenon it is now.
Or, as our resident Insultant artfully put it on the message boards the other day, the Facebook founders "every day, in every way, seem intent on proving to the world that the success of their social network has far outstripped ANYTHING that they either expected or [were] intellectually equipped to cope with."
See? Art.
This may actually be the case. It's hard to believe that back in his beer bong days (we're presuming... it's Massachusetts) Mark Zuckerberg knew what he was getting himself into.
As evidenced by its latest dabble in transparency, when in doubt, Facebook is happy to let its users come in and make the decisions it can't figure out on its own. Don't like our TOS? Well, why not rewrite them for us while we take the afternoon off to do body shots on the beach? Everybody wins! (And we'll post the pics afterward! LOL!)
So, keeping in the spirit of the New Facebook way of running things, with the users at the helm, why don't we give the site a helping hand in choosing a new executive who's got the chops to run a business? Like, a businessperson. Or an adult!
To be sure, Mark's a nice guy and everything. Well. Seems to be. From afar, as his PR flacks still won't let us have a word with him. But it's just becoming more apparent, with the whole shoddy revenue model thing and the regular Facebook Flubs, that he may not be up for the job.
So, on this, the Web's 20th birthday (yes, just thought I'd slip that in there), let's take the first steps in ousting Zuck from power, a task we can accomplish on -- where else? -- Facebook! (Yay, irony!)
We don't want to upset Mark before his big Oprah appearance today, but if this is really going to be the revolutionary tool everyone says it is, the tool to bridge our cultures and restart American democracy, the new virtual stage for weddings and funerals, the only place worth being ever, particularly if you're into throwing one-dimensional sheep or pretending to support Causes -- we're going to need a leader who's ready to lead.
Are you tired of letting this flip-flop wearing, up-speaking zygote-turned-exec lead us through the anti-social revolutions of our lives? Join the Facebook group, and participate in a true democracy (except, well, I'm in charge by default on Facebook), here: A New Face for Facebook!
And don't forget to discuss your thoughts on the boards below.
Nicole, I just wanted to know the specifics when Facebook decided to disable my account. I went through the processes of being warned and being disabled. I requested specific information numerous times without a reply from FB about why I had been disabled. Facebook merely said I had been misusing certain unnamed policies and I had been typing on walls too quickly.
Their redress was to advise me to review the Facebook policies on Rights and Responsibilities-- all of them-- and go to their online help center. I did. I still have no idea why I was kicked out when comments and apps and groups can contain pretty offensive material. In fact, I try to use Facebook to communicate with many ex-students and friends as I spent 27 years as a senior high school composition teacher.
Also, I used to brag to my friends about Facebook. Many of my friends (an older generation and Internet shy) were afraid to join such an online community until I told them that Facebook seemed like a pretty friendly, accepting company. I tried to put encouraging and thoughtful content into my comments. Facebook even imported my blog for people to read. I am retired so I have time to check on the health and well-being of others. But, now, I am a Facebook criminal. I feel Facebook is very deceptive in their front to be a positive force in Internet communication. I think they are very unfair with their PR practices. Change must come soon.
Facebook reinstated my account two days ago, but I am under a stern warning that the next time I am disabled, I will be banned for good. I have not injured or discredited anyone with content or annoyance in my account. I have about 270 friends. I don't play Mafia Wars or any games. I realize I am using a free service with rules. I just want to know the rules.
I get what you're saying here, dbergman, but we have to analyze companies from all angles. It's not enough just to say, well, you guys do a good job at some things, and you sure had a great start-up story, so we'll let the rest of it slide. I'm happy to give Facebook credit for what it has done well, and it's certainly done an amazing job of growing its user-base. But it doesn't seem to know just what to do with those users, or how to profit off of them. This might have a lot to do with the person at the helm, who doesn't seem to have the executive chops. Great, brilliant founder, obviously, but if he cares enough about the site and its future he might want to step down as CEO.
The real problem is my son won't let me join his group. Actually, I think this is a problem common with almost all the social nets.
Each of us in in many Social networks: family, work, school. friends, profession, evil underworld cabal, and so forth. It is THESE that are our projections into the larger society. Our home-page is for us alone and is the LAST place we will invite others.
When you come up with a new & useful idea, people say WOW & adopt it. The bar for the competition is raised. Then the people expect that it is going to create a second wow effect after a few months. When there is no wow or even disappointment, then company is simply not meeting people's expectations- the bar that it set for itself.
Here the problem is that the company (Facebook, Twitter) have not been able to commercialize the first WOW profitably. This prevents them to attract more capital & this in turn prevents R&D - that is needed for the second wow.
Im not a huge facebook fan, and the new interface were you can't see people's comments and its freezes up is just annoying! My vote for someone who will know when to leave well enough alone! If it ain't broke don't fix it!
I find it funny that people are quick to attack the E-bay's, Amazons, Microsofts, and Facebooks simply because they are easy targets. These companies accomplished unbelievable innovations to take their dorm room or garage idea and make them multi-national money making machines. And each with their share of millions and millions of users. We loved their products when they first came out, then as we got used to them and incorporated them into our lives, we start to nitpick at them until finally we as a critical mass are publically complaining about the things their sites/programs/services DO NOT do. What the Facebooks of the world DO for us is still there, why is it suddenly not enough when a few years ago it was the best thing since sliced bread.
I would also add that the policies that will be voted on now are coming from the same people who are currently creating the ones we hate. What are we supposed to do, pick the one we dislike the least?
Of course! Why, there's even a term for it...it's called "The American Way" and it's how we've elected our presidents for the past hundred and fifty years! And that's worked out perfectly...oh...wait a minute...but...hmmm...
True that Steve Jobs is a counter-example in the sense that he was/is both founder and CEO and has been very successful. But it's pretty clear that his management tactics are completely different from Zuckerberg's. Apple is hierarchical. Facebook keeps giving its users more control. That's something Apple hasn't done, and even though it goes against the grain of Web 2.0, it's worked very well.
That works to an extent, Chris. But Facebook also needs to run like a business or there won't be any Facebook anymore. But, yes, absolutely, it seems like "they're choking on their own success." Looks like the site grew too quickly before the founders could figure out how to properly run it. This is why they're constantly backpedaling. Here's Beacon... Don't like Beacon? Sorry about that, we take it back. Here's our TOS... Don't like our TOS? Sorry about that, we take it back. On the one hand, the company is "listening" to its users. But the big picture is that the company just keeps screwing up. If they knew what they were doing over there I don't think they'd backtrack whenever they made an unpopular decision. It's clear they're just going with the flow and taking a cue from the people. They're certainly having success when you look at it from a user-growth standpoint, but it also has to run like a business.
I am not a avid Facebook user. I don't check it until someone contacts me first. I think it's funny that after I joined the site, my eyes have been opened to Facebook's problems. I noticed that there was a "new" homepage that really didn't change from the old one except for the fact that Ithe pictures are bigger. I am still forced to speak about myself in the third person. lol Perhaps if I were an avid user these things would affect me more, although I have friends who go crazy for Facebook, but they don't seem to have any issues with it whatsoever. Continue on though, I am learning a lot!
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