Why the new Facebook is creepymazing

You did it again Facebook. Everyone hates Facebook changes – every time, people spend days discussing about the potential benefits and the many disadvantages of the new design. This time, the change is radical.

Problem 1: Timeline

Meet the new Facebook timeline. Looks amazing, right?

Think again. The new timeline means all your potential stalkers have access to your “Facebook history” since day one. All they need to do is scroll down or click on the year they’re interested in.

Problem 2: Facebook privacy options

The default privacy option for whom has access to your timeline is set to “everyone”. Unless you want everyone (that includes potential employers and creepy people) to see your wall posts, pictures and drunken posts, then I suggest you head over to Privacy Options and change the option from Everyone to Friends or Friends of friends. While you’re on the page, go through all the privacy options and check that it’s the way you want it to be.

Problem 3: Spotify

I love Spotify. Facebook and Spotify are BFFs now and if you link your Spotify and Facebook account, every single song you listen to will come up on your timeline. No thank you. I have last.fm scrobbling for that and my friends now where it is if they need to see what I’m listening to. So I opted out for linking both accounts and guess what? My list of friends (with their playlists) disappeared from Spotify. That sucks. Also, if you’re a new user, you can’t create a Spotify account unless you have a Facebook account. Seriously?!

Problem 4: Everything else

The time where you had to click on a button to “like” something is over. You can watch a show on Hulu, listen to a song on Spotify, or check out a story on Mashable, via the Washington Post‘s Social Read app and your friends will know about it. Facebook apps will ask your permission to share those stories of course – but they will ask just once. Sharing becomes both passive and automatic. So be careful because with these apps you’re automatically sending anything you read/watch/listen into your timeline.

The bottom line? The new timeline has a modern look and it looks amazing. But it is seriously creepy that if you don’t pay attention, everything you will do will come up on your timeline. Facebook wants you to use the site as a diary, as a way to record your memories – which explains the new options it added.

It still amazes me how anyone would want to fill in the missing blanks and tell the world when they had surgery or when they broke their leg.

So, here we are. Facebook is changing all over again. We complain. And in a few months, we probably won’t notice the changes anymore – until next round of course.

The new Facebook is creepymazing. What do you like and hate about it? Let me know and let’s complain together 🙂 !

PS: If you are not scared just yet, head over and read this. Guess what? Facebook tracks you even after logging out. Creepy.

UPDATE

I love Spotify – they listen to their customers. You can now choose not to share the songs you’re listening to. FINALLY.