What's with the crappy user interface at Facebook?In my personal capacity (i.e not as "Quiddity") I log in to Facebook.
Someone wants to be a Friend so I shoot out an "Add a friend".
Facebook demands a Captcha check. That seems unnecessary
since I've already logged in, but okay.
Then a pop-up with this:
Confirm Your Phone
Facebook uses security tests to ensure that the people on the site are real. Having a mobile phone helps us establish your identity. Please verify your account by confirming your phone here. We'll text you a confirmation code.
Facebook does not have my land line or cellphone because I don't want to disclose it, yet here is a message that implies that I have to enter my cellphone in order to complete the action. Also, I don't want Facebook texting me under any circumstances.
I refuse to join the Borg. At least not completely.
CODA: The overall user experience at Facebook is cramped, obscure, with too many junky "maybe this is of interest to you" or "someone-I've-never-heard-of-would-like-to-contact" elements. Is Facebook really that much fun for others? Am I missing something here?
posted by Quiddity at 10/15/2009 06:25:00 PM
I only recently joined and am mostly enjoying it. Old (I mean o-l-d) friends are starting to show up and that's cool. I completely ignore people I don't know and the commercial come-ons. If it becomes burdensome, I'll leave.
It's main value is in being a more-casual-than-email way of contacting people. You can chatter with old friends over amusing posts or observations that would not warrant a phone call or email.
I've never had that happen, I send a friend request and it says ok. Maybe there's some reason they suspect your account (too many friend requests in a certain time period?)
Once you collect all of your family and friends (like baseball cards) as Facebook friends, you'll either post hourly status updates or more-or-less ignore Facebook. That's seems like the pattern for adults AFAIK.
