The Observer, September 22, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 4
Facebook may just become another version of MySpace
After the backlash Facebook.com received two weeks ago in response to its mini-feed feature, dubbed by many users as a "stalker-feed," it seems like they are up for another conflict with their users.
Earlier this week, Facebook announced that it plans to open the networking site to anyone with a public e-mail address and group them by region.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, the creator and CEO of Facebook, this change is simply expanding the original idea of Facebook, to have a large networking site to help students create and keep connections with various groups of people.
However, many of Facebook's approximately nine million users feel that a public Facebook is too similar to MySpace.
One of the main concerns Facebook users share is the verification of users with a public e-mail address. Zuckerberg tried to address this concern during an interview with Bambi Francisco on blog.markwatch.com, stating that "you [the user] can only be a part of one region at a time, because you only live in one place. So we limit it so people can't move around that much and then you can only be part of one region."
But Zuckerberg's reasoning as to how public accounts will retain their validity is not assuring many of the current users.
One Facebook user, freshman Rachel Jackson, voiced a common concern that she did not like the idea of making Facebook public. "It gives too many people access, like parents…I don't want the world available to Facebook."
For freshman Abby McGreehan, Facebook going public means that she now will definitely not get on the network.
Across campus, and across Facebook itself, similar complaints are being heard. There is already a group on Facebook known as the "Official Petition Against Opening Facebook," which has over 50,000 members, as well as several other "official" and unofficial groups petitioning for the same cause.
So far, a date has not been set for when Facebook will become public.
Even some parents feel safer about their children on a secure network like Facebook than the public sites.
"My mom feels more comfortable with me on a site that requires a school address that is very difficult to lie on," said freshman Kathy Ehlert. The exclusivity of Facebook makes it appear safer than a site like MySpace.
Overall, with Facebook morphing into a more open site it is losing its original "clubby" feel, making more and more students want to turn away from it.
Although Zuckerberg insists that Facebook needs to be more open in order to facilitate more networks, many users can only see the site becoming another MySpace. If this continues, Facebook could lose much of its student base.
