Why Facebook’s Timeline Doesn’t Suck

A lot of people are being switched over to the new Timeline profile layout, whether it’s by force or by choice, and a lot of people don’t believe this change is a nice little serendipity; most people see it as another complex and horrendous change. For some reason, most of you are surprised by Timeline even though it was announced months ago at f8. Regardless of how you feel, you’re not going to get your old profile back. But look on the bright side: Timeline is actually great, and I’m going to explain why.

People see Timeline as being a huge privacy issue instead of what is really is: an accumulation of everything you’ve already shared on Facebook, along with the aspects of your life you wish to share with friends moving forward. If you’re complaining about every one of your past posts being revealed to your friends, then your complaint is baseless and has no value for two reasons:

a.) You shouldn’t have posted things to a social network you don’t want others to see. As I was told, “The Internet’s not written in pencil, Mark, it’s written in ink.”

b.) Once you make the switch, you have seven days to go through and hide/remove events you don’t want people seeing. That’s more than enough time to hide those drunken posts you made or remove a photo or two you don’t want certain friends to see, etc.

If you’re going to make a big deal out of privacy every time we change something, you should just stop using our site; wanting to be anti-social on a social network is beyond moronic.

I don’t understanding how Timeline’s design is terrible, either. I’d like to start by pointing out how ironic it is that the same profile we’re getting rid of was hated by the same people when it was first introduced, yet now everyone seems to be in love with our old design compared to Timeline. People like that will always complain about the changes we do or don’t make, so we’re obviously never going to manage to please them. Timeline is a simple, more modern overview of a person’s life and time on Facebook and still displays the same information as before, albeit in a different way; nothing has changed aside from the way it’s displayed, and quite a few people (myself included) love the new design.

Those who point out the “awful” design also complain that the layout makes the profile too complex. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks being able to scroll through activity in order from newest to oldest is easy; but hey, what the heck do I know about being social online? Honestly, Timeline is still very simple and you can add and remove information through the same pages as before and remove/hide it just about as easily as before.

I think Timeline will eventually begin to grow on people once they understand what its purpose actually is; Facebook wants you to share your life with the people you’re closest to, not make your information available to everyone at any time. Switch over, adjust and add/remove the things you don’t want to see over the seven-day transition period, and play around with it to spruce up your profile with your photos, Likes, and even a nifty banner.

Timeline is the future of Facebook, and if you don’t like it, use an alternative social network, but remember: everything changes, just like Facebook has, just like Twitter has, and just like Google+ will. Some changes you’ll like, and most you won’t once you become comfortable with something. Everyone has different views on what “social” really is, and Facebook believes in sharing your whole life with those closest to you. Other social networks see social as something entirely different, and that’s what they build their platform around; no two social networks are the same, so pick the one you like instead of trying to get a social network to become what you like.

The Facebook Photo Security Flaw That Isn’t

Update: The thread describing the bug has been deleted and the bug itself was patched earlier today. Now go back to reporting on something that matters.

 If an album on Facebook is set to private, those photos are all private. Multiple so-called “private” photos posted here are in partially public albums (go look) or posted to be shared with friends of friends.

This flaw is hardly critical; people are blowing things out of proportion. Find something better to do than stalk people. Oh wait, that’s the only life you seem to have, hence why you found this insignificant bug.

Simple fix: Make your photo albums viewable by only your friends (which you should’ve done anyway). Problem solved.

Protecting Yourself from Spam on Facebook

By now, you’ve probably seen the pornographic and fake links posted on Facebook. I can’t do anything about it on my own, and neither can Facebook. It’s up to everyone to secure their accounts and avoid clicking spam; you can’t blame Facebook because you made bad decisions and clicked links you thought were safe just because they came from your friends. So, what can you do to fix the Facebook experience for yourself and everyone else?

  1. Change your password. If a spammer has already accessed your account, it’s always better that you change your password to something more secure; don’t use basic words and add a 1 at the end – use something that uses capital letters, symbols, and numbers. I’d also advise you to manage and remove any applications that might just be spamming your friends with annoying notifications.
  2. Don’t click on links that seem suspicious. If you see a link that details something about a celebrity or has a graphic thumbnail, you should ALWAYS avoid clicking it. You should also review your account to make sure you didn’t send anything out, and if you did, make sure you send a message to as many friends as possible telling them not to click it.
  3. Report the accounts you see posting spam on the Walls of larger Facebook accounts. Spammers are now using the tagging feature to spread the distribution of their malicious links, and it’s up to you to have them taken down for good. Most of these users are just pages with fake names, so you should always click the “Report for Spam” button on their profile.
  4. Send this to your friends. If they don’t protect themselves, nothing is going to improve. It takes a large movement to stop this much spam and protect the majority of the community. Accounts are being blocked if they’re suspected of being phished, so don’t let this happen again. Myspace had a similar problem, and it resulted in a lot of phished accounts and unhappy people.
  5. Join the event and send it to your friends. Not everyone is willing to read a blog post, but they can still show their support by joining the event and pledging to help fight spam.

Facebook is definitely aware that spam is going ramped and CAPTCHAs and such are not working to fight it anymore. Companies depend on consumers to help them thrive, so we need to do just as much, if not more, things to combat spam, phishing, and inappropriate Facebook content.

Bullying: We Need to Act & Stop It Now

Cyber bullying is a problem, and it’s one that deserves a lot more attention than it has received. Sure, we have other issues like the conflicts in the Middle East, global warming, an unstable economy, etc., but cyber bullying is a problem happening right here in the United States and in many other places in the world, and, unlike many other world issues, it can be helped and fixed easily if people actually cared enough to acknowledge and prevent it.

Living in a world where children, teenagers, and even adults feel so lonely that the only way out is through death devastates me, and it’s a matter that has gotten more serious through websites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many others. The recent rise of the It Gets Better campaign has helped many gay and lesbian teens come out and admit who they are, and although we’re becoming more accepting, there are still those who do not want to see change and equality and harass those who are different from them to the point where they want to commit suicide instead of speaking out and getting the help and protection they need. This has to stop, and although many people are speaking out against bullying of all forms, not enough has been done, and it has resulted in so many tragedies and lost lives that could’ve been saved if someone took the time to care for their fellow human.

I believe that equality will never be able to completely exist in the world, because some people will always be ignorant towards change and those who represent change because they’re different, but we have the power to stand united and fight against those who’re fighting against and crippling those who want to be accepted for who they are. In the minds of many others as well as my own, we believe that they only thing that should define how a person should be judged is by their character and actions, not their emotions, race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.

We need more organized groups where people who are both victims and anti-bullying activists can work together in helping each other and bettering the lives of others, along with government intervention to help stop this problem. Websites need to have their safety teams act immediately when users are reported for harassment or any other form of bullying. People need to speak up and stop bullying when they see it happening. It’s our obligation to stop one of the worst, most far-reaching problems and the world; if we do not, we’ll continue losing people to bullying.

Despite my often sarcastic and comedic nature, the reason why I run parody accounts, write blog posts, and share inspirational & important advice is to remind them that they are not alone and that there’s always someone out there willing to listen and help. If you want to help stop bullying, visit StopBullying.gov, and if you ever just need someone to talk to, email me or take advantage of the many online resources available to you and get the help you need; don’t be another life that comes to an end long before it should.

Equality and peace is necessary for the unity of people and the world, so it’s up to us to protect and care for one another. Bullying has gone on for far too many decades, and if we do not act soon, it’ll be too late. Reach out and help those being bullied, and if you’re a victim of bullying, get the help you need. Someone out there loves you, and nobody wants to see you leave this world because of things that don’t even matter to those who actually care about you.