Facebook Fiasco

Well, I've always been wary of facebook, but now I'm wary of our whole generation. So much has changed in the way we communicate with each other, and based on responses I got to an email the other day, I'm convinced that we aren't quite aware of what exactly these changes mean.

The original email is the one pasted below. I sent it to Facebook, and I blind carbon copied many of my closest friends. Instead of outrage, the common response was, "who cares?" Over the next few weeks (not tonight, I'm going to bed), we'll explore first why the changing ways we communicate are so important and second why I'm now shifting from online back to the hand written letter.


To Whom It May Concern,

Facebook disabled my account last night because I would not submit additional personal information about myself, namely, my birthday. I write today so that the operators of Facebook might reconsider both its recent actions and also the overall direction of the site.

Here's the story: for months, Facebook has sought my birthday for “security reasons.” The site placed a yellow box at the top of the "newsfeed." Such a request was fine: I simply ignored it. Last night, however, Facebook's approach became more intrusive: a popup box appeared on each page I clicked. Incredibly obnoxious, I grumblingly submitted to Facebook’s incessant requests by setting my birthday as “January 1, 1910,” making me a young and healthy 97 and eagerly awaiting my 98th birthday. For whatever reason, the site rejected my submission. I then tried a date a little bit closer to my real birthday (how much closer I still will not say) -- “January 1, 1976” -- but Facebook still somehow knew that this was not quite right. I tried again, and again, until I could try no more; Facebook disabled my account. Whether this action will be temporary or in perpetuity, I now inquire.

To what ends Facebook wanted personal information about me, I do not know. Maybe the site will claim that it simply wanted to confirm that I was over 13, the minimum age which Facebook allows membership. But maybe – and much more plausibly – Facebook sought my birthday because such information is useful for, at best, making money and, at worse, because it understands that users’ favorite books, movies, and education, which profiles people look at, their sexual preference, and their religion is information valuable in its own right. What a far cry from the original aim of Facebook, and how very, very scary.

In writing this letter, my goal was to ask for my account to me reactivated. But I am now more seriously considering, especially as new networking sites are born, whether I want to be part of the Facebook community even if reinstated (I think that I do). Kicking me off sets a bad precedent, and worse, makes me -- and I'm sure when others hear about this and other similar actions (and they are already hearing) -- concerned that Facebook is no longer an online social networking community but instead a marketing, money-making, information-collecting machine. We will see whether, if it ever reaches that point, Facebook will even be trusted with a valid email address.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best,



Eli Berman
eli.berman@yahoo.com