For the Facebook-Matrix, I’m taking the red pill

Facebook used to be a site that I visited when I was bored or had downtime. It was a diversion that could be accessed at any given moment, and then put back away when it’s purpose was served. The problem is that now, you can’t put Facebook away. You can close your browser window and continue on to surf other sites, but no matter where you go, you’re back at Facebook again. If I’m reading an article on cnn.com, my friends’ comments are listed to the right of the article. If I’m visiting (seemingly) random blogs, I’m being encouraged to be the first of my friends to “Like” the posting. Enough. I’m unplugging from the Facebook version of The Matrix.

The development community seems to have mixed feelings about the recent facebook changes, and the perceived intentions behind them. Some think that it is an inevitable future, and that we are all going to be issued national ID cards with our Facebook profile ID listed. Others don’t like the changes, but still see a world where Facebook becomes the only dominant player. I see it playing out a bit differently. I think the recent changes and initiatives that are coming out of Facebook are the beginning of the end for the giant. I, for one, am closing my Facebook account today, and I suspect that others will begin to do the same, for the following reasons:

• People like to feel like they have “choice” on the internet. Being herded through your online experience by endless recommendations and “you-may-also-likes” takes the excitement out of discovering anything, and leaves people with the feeling that every aspect of their online experience is orchestrated.
• People are boring. I don’t care what my facebook friend said about some article on [insert site name here]. If I wanted to get their view, I would have asked them or, gone to facebook.
• People always come to hate the king. Ask Microsoft, AOL, and Google. As something grows increasingly in strength and reach, people grow uneasy. For me, personally, seeing Facebook “Like” buttons on every website I visit is becoming maddening.

To those that stay, good luck, enjoy the experience. I hope your farms, fishtanks, and mafia families thrive.  And I hope you enjoy the customized Gillete advertisements.  My buddy Carlos did.  For everybody else, I’ll see you outside of Facebook, where I’ll be working on a browser plugin to block the various Facebook “Like/Comment/Recommend/Blah/Blah/Blah” widgets.