Why must so many journalists on the "web beat" (okay, let's just call them bloggers) feel the need to turn every story about Facebook into an exercise in histrionics?
If you genuinely find this feature "creepy," you really have some living to do. Living, that is, outside of web surfing and attending media parties. Faces of Death videos are kinda creepy. This? This is not.
First of all, you'll only see this feature if you're already trying to "find" a "friend." Even then you have to click on something to check the results. But all it's doing is culling data that's been available to you all along -- visit anyone's public profile and you can already see which friends you have in common. Facebook has merely added a very basic tool that reports this data in an organized fashion.
Honestly, anyone who's not a complete idiot should have expected this feature to come around eventually. I'm surprised it took them so long. Yes, there's the danger that you're going to "run into" someone you're purposely avoiding or vise versa. But did you know you can BLOCK said people, and that they'll never see your profile or pictures?
There you go! It's a perfect opportunity to show people that you're better than them by proactively blocking them, and appearing as though you've never even joined this Book of Faces! Block these hated individuals. And if you're not willing to go through that little effort, don't complain about it so damn much.
People you know and dislike are a part of life. For some, more than others. It's not Facebook's duty to protect you from all discomfort. And seriously, if there are that many people out there whom you hate and that you believe hate you...well, it's probably because you're a bit of an asshole. Sorry to break it to you.
Why must so many journalists on the "web beat" (okay, let's just call them bloggers) feel the need to turn every story about Facebook into an exercise in histrionics?
If you genuinely find this feature "creepy," you really have some living to do. Living, that is, outside of web surfing and attending media parties. Faces of Death videos are kinda creepy. This? This is not.
First of all, you'll only see this feature if you're already trying to "find" a "friend." Even then you have to click on something to check the results. But all it's doing is culling data that's been available to you all along -- visit anyone's public profile and you can already see which friends you have in common. Facebook has merely added a very basic tool that reports this data in an organized fashion.
Honestly, anyone who's not a complete idiot should have expected this feature to come around eventually. I'm surprised it took them so long. Yes, there's the danger that you're going to "run into" someone you're purposely avoiding or vise versa. But did you know you can BLOCK said people, and that they'll never see your profile or pictures?
There you go! It's a perfect opportunity to show people that you're better than them by proactively blocking them, and appearing as though you've never even joined this Book of Faces! Block these hated individuals. And if you're not willing to go through that little effort, don't complain about it so damn much.
People you know and dislike are a part of life. For some, more than others. It's not Facebook's duty to protect you from all discomfort. And seriously, if there are that many people out there whom you hate and that you believe hate you...well, it's probably because you're a bit of an asshole. Sorry to break it to you.
Your friend,