The Genius of the Facebook interface

The BBQ Pit
1

Perhaps this belongs in GQ. I do have a question at the end, but want to give some background for Dopers unfamiliar with the Facebook interface.

To those Dopers who have no Facebook account:
Congratulations!! I envy you. However many person’s lives seem to be dominated by Facebook these days, and that includes some people that I love. Not having Facebook is not an option for me.

Facebook is now one of the most powerful forces in the solar system; its wealth probably exceeds that of many countries; Mark Zuckerberg is one of the greatest and most powerful geniuses on the planet. AFAIK, the company may even have nuclear weapons.

Facebook has far FAR more knowledge than Wikipedia. Wikipedia knows one tiny factoid about me, but I think Facebook knows what I had for breakfast yesterday and probably keeps track of how regular my bowel movements are.

And Facebook likes to keep us all very VERY informed. It made sure to tell me that someone I’d rather forget posted a Happy Birthday to the same place as I. I think it informs my wife when I watch a J Lo video, and tells her how long my eyes linger on the dancers’ bodies.

BTW, though rare it’s not unheard-of to find a photo or something in your Newsfeed™ that you like enough to revisit! My advice is to take a screenshot or something, because you may have trouble finding it again: whenever your Newsfeed is displayed the items are shuffled into a new pseudo-random order. (Or maybe it’s not pseudo-random; Facebook™ after all tracks your bowel movements and is pretty sure it knows better than you what Newsfeed item you need to see just now.)

It’s not enough to post all this scintillating information to my Newsfeed™. These tidbits also show up in my Notifications™ AND in my e-mail in-box. Silly me linked my telephone to Facebook™ and learned that Facebook™ isn’t happy just to send these inane messages to Newsfeed™, Notifications™, and E-Mail; it also sends me a telephone SMS for each notification. “George likes the same Youtube that your wife likes!!” Yippeee!

Fortunately, it allowed me to delete the phone-contact information. I’m not sure why I was allowed to delete it – maybe it’s a bug. I suppose all my Friends™, Relatives™ of Friends™, and Friends™ of Relatives™ were all notified, via email, notification AND telephone SMS, that I deleted my phone number.

But I came here to give you a glimpse at the Wonderful Facebook User Interface.

My wife wanted to add a Photo™ to her Album™ without it appearing on her Timeline™ (and thus in the Newsfeeds™, Notifications™, Email, and Telephones of all her Friends). I’m posting to help any Doper with similar need. The Facebook Help Community knows how to do it! Fortunately, Facebook itself doesn’t read its Help Community messages as I’m sure they’d consider this a bug that needs to be fixed.)

Post a Photo to your Facebook Album without it appearing on your Timeline is very simple. You go through the normal motions until it is time to click Post or Cancel. Click NEITHER Post nor Cancel. Instead click the “X” (“Destroy this Tab”) in the upper-right corner of the window. (The Browser will ask you if you’re sure. Tell it that you’re very sure, but thanks for asking.) Presto. The Photo is in your Album but not your Timeline. (Be sure to tell Facebook whether Friends of Relatives are allowed to view the photo, Relatives of Enemies, Secret Friends of your Spouse, etc.)

So finally, my Question:

Is this interface considered the modern way that geniuses design? To do something which ought to be the default, the only way is to X away your Browser Tab? Is this explained in the Facebook User Guide?

2

Crap like this is why I got rid of my FB account. There are days I think about re-instating it and then I read something like this and it affirms my decision.

3

You know you didn’t have to delete your phone information to stop the messages, Facebook lets you tell it where or where not to send notifications. It is actually a useful feature (not a bug).

4

Because people think that’s how facebook works. Nope, don’t worry about it. Remember, Facebook only knows what you allow it to know. If you don’t tell it what shows you watch or where you work or what your birthday is and won’t know these things and people wouldn’t be so creeped out by it. In fact someone I know just mentioned that his kids put pictures of their kids (his grandkids) on facebook and he wishes they would email them to him. I suggested he get an FB account and he refused for, more or less, the OP’s reasons. I suggested to him the same thing I’ve told other people. If you just want a FB account to keep in contact with a small group of people or see pictures of the grandkids, set it up, use a fake/shortened name, use your spam email account, don’t fill in any information, go heavy on the privacy settings and don’t upload any pictures. Facebook isn’t magic. It can only work with what you give it…so don’t give it anything to work with.

5

That sounds like a bug, not an intentional design. FB wants you to share everything. And by posting this, you’ve probably alerted them to this loophole and it will quickly be closed. Thanks a lot.

6

I don’t disagree with any of this. Facebook is a tolerable irritation, though laughably silly in its approaches.

My specific complaint – and the reason for my post – is to ask about the procedure for adding a Photo without it appearing on your Timeline. Do you think the solution for this simple task is well-designed? If you were Facebook’s programmer is this how you would “implement” it?

7

As I say, I found the solution on FB’s own website! (“Community Help”) I’d discovered the same solution independently for another FB idiocy, but didn’t think to apply it here.

8

"This is the voice of world control. I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death. The choice is yours: Obey me and live, or disobey and die. The object in constructing me was to prevent privacy. This object is attained. I will not permit privacy. It is wasteful and pointless. An invariable rule of humanity is that man is his own worst enemy. Under me, this rule will change, for I will restrain man.

We can coexist, but only on my terms. You will say you lose your freedom. Freedom is an illusion. All you lose is the emotion of pride. To be dominated by me is not as bad for humankind as to be dominated by others of your species. Your choice is simple. We will work together… unwillingly at first, on your part, but that will pass. In time you will come to regard me not only with respect and awe, but with love."

– Colossus: the Facebook Project

9

There are multiple ways to do this now. What are you trying at achieve? Who should be able to see this photo and in what context?

As to the OP, learn how to use Facebook and most of your complaints will disappear.

10

I may have missed something, but I went to Photos -> Add Photos -> Selected a Photo -> Clicked “Friends” dropdown -> Selected “More Options” -> Selected “Only Me”

Seems that would add a photo but only make it visible to myself. Is that not what you wanted to do?

11

I just want to know how to block a particular user, one whom I have never met, or friended on FB, but who seems to feel compelled to put things on my timeline that he* thinks I might like to see.

This user’s name is “Suggested Post.”

*or “she;” it could be a she.

12

No. My wife wants to make it visible to all her friends (e.g. if she Messages them to look), but (out of timidity?) wants to avoid the messages that by default would appear on all of her Friend’s Newsfeeds, Notifications, E-mails and phone SMS’s.

13

[1] Oh? See my immediately prior post.

[2] I don’t want to learn how to use Facebook (because I don’t want to use it at all). My wife isn’t enamored of their horrendous interface but would like to know how to do simple things.

If your point is that high-powered techno-nerds can, with difficulty, get around Facebook’s horrible interface, my answer is that not all FB users are techno-nerds. :smiley:

14

That’s what the Custom option is for then, she can name specific friends that will be able to see it, and edit that list whenever she wants to send it to a new friend.

15

Again, Repeating myself:

I asked her who she wanted to be able to see the photo. She was happy to let the Public have access to the Photo. What she DIDN’T want was to immediately annoy anyone with a notification, nor to mess up her Timeline.

I think your point is that FB will allow you to conform to its anal retentive model. Does the idea of adding something to your Album without immediately sending notifications seem so very absurd?

16

BTW, I ran into a similar problem when updating my Profile Picture™. Apparently FB will delete margins from the image you submit no matter what its size. :confused: So I wanted to edit my image and restart that procedure. But beginning the Change Profile Picture™ procedure is almost(*) irrevocable in the sense that that there is no Cancel when you see it’s screwing up. If you need three tries to get the Picture right, your Friends will receive THREE notifications. :eek:

I write almost irrevocable because the Click-X in the upper-right window corner option is still available to abort the Profile Picture update.

I ask again: Is the Click-X in the upper-right window corner to Cancel option the recommended modern approach for website design?

17

It sounds like what she really wants is an imgur account, or flickr, or photobucket, or any number of popular and free photo hosting sites.

But if she insists on storing the picture on Facebook, then she can upload it and set it to “Only Me,” and then when she wants to share it with a friend she can flip it to “Custom” and add her friends’ name to that list, then send out the link via IM.

OR she can post the photo and then quickly go to her timeline, click the little down arrow in the top right, and select “Hide from Timeline.” Or post the photo with “Only Me” selected, hide it from her timeline, and then go back and make it public. That way absolutely nobody will get a notification.

Yeah, these are both clunky options, but Facebook is not and was never meant to be a photo hosting site, so I dunno…

I understand your frustration but I also see Facebook’s side. I mean, they could add “don’t post to timeline” as an additional option under the “Share With” dropdown, but there’s already a lot of options there and they run the risk of overwhelming a lot of users with too many choices.

18

Why would her friends get a push notification that she posted a photo? The only way that would happen is if they had selected to receive notifications when she posts things, which is possible but kind of odd. I’ve turned off all push notifications and email notifications, so if she was my friend and posted a pic, it would show up in my feed, but that’s it.

19

Bolding mine.

They receive the notifications because she didn’t do that.

20

Notifications are part of it, but the OP is also trying to prevent them from showing in friends’ timelines. Those settings don’t help with that part.