When Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, he certainly didn’t intend for it to take over the world. Well Marky, it did. People all over the world idolize the website for its communication power, its stalking abilities, and of course, as something to pass the time during an uneventful day at the office. Plainly put, Facebook has changed lives. But while it has provided us with some form of entertainment, Facebook does peeve us off at times. With the new “timeline” came tortoise-paced loading. So annoying, right? And what’s up with all of your privacy settings resetting whenever they damn well please? Look no further, fellow Facebook frequenters, this is your place to vent, and vent we will.

1. E-mail Change: Rather than telling its users that their e-mail addresses would be changed to “@facebook.com,” Facebook just did it. This means that users will get all of their notifications from Facebook in their Facebook inbox, rather than in the email address he/she provided when signing up. Facebook made the change in order to gain more traffic on the site, which is understandable, but how about a little communication? The switch back to the original email address could be made by editing your profile, toggling the newly defaulted Facebook email to off, and selecting the address of your choice- but many users didn’t even know about the change in the first place. Nothing like keeping your faithful users in the dark.
2. Timeline: Want to know when Facebook makes a cosmetic change? A chorus of groans from its users can be heard worldwide. It seems as though just as people are getting used to one update, Facebook pulls the rug out from under us and completely modifies everything. As if the layout isn’t different and chunky enough, the unbearable slowness of loading the Timeline is horrendous. Perhaps it’s the large and unnecessary “cover photo” that takes up half of the screen. And forget about scrolling; you can clean your entire house before you make it to the bottom. The new setup also encourages users to edit and add life events that occurred before the person joined Facebook. As if we really need to know about that 5th grade talent show you were in. Snore. And if you haven’t converted to the Timeline yet- don’t worry, it will probably be forced upon you like every other “new and improved” update.
3. Privacy Settings: If you didn’t want to be found by creepers before the new Timeline setup appeared, you can probably be found now. Why? With the new update, Facebook users’ privacy settings are slightly skewed from the default settings originally set. Timeline nudges users to display more content than may be wanted; previous posts from years past that were forgotten and buried are uncovered with the new setup. Going into your settings and checking that everything is the way you want may not always help, however, especially in the event of friending someone. While users may have had a choice as to whether or not to show who they’ve friended with the old Facebook, Timeline puts it all out in the open, without the option to hide or delete these stories- at least in mass quantities. Simply put, for each person you friend, you have to click on the drop down box beside it and select “Hidden from Timeline.” While it’s not the end of the world, it is slightly inconvenient and annoying- especially if you’re a freak about who can see what on your wall.

When all is said and done, Facebook users just don’t want to be lied to or left in the dark. These reasons alone are probably why Facebook hasn’t been so successful with its e-commerce platform; people have been turning to Pinterest in order to buy products. But that’s a whole different story (and article). Bottom line: Shape up Facebook, or you may find yourself in a bad breakup with over 700 million users. And, metaphorically speaking, we’re keeping everything- including the dog.

About the Author: Kristy Kravitsky is a Penn State graduate with a passion for writing and traveling.