They're radical, they're temporal, but they're not optional. An old-timer tries to come to terms with the latest developments on Facebook.
BC: Hey, you had posted an article about the falling Indian rupee on Facebook.
AD: Interesting one, right?
BC: I wouldn't know, I couldn't read it.
AD: Why not?
BC: I clicked on the link, but it took me to a window that not only asked me to add the app to Facebook, but also ‘required' my description and likes. I declined.
AD: That's Open Graph...
BC: With Facebook, life became not just an open book but an open graph.
AD: Open Graph allows you to share what you read with your Facebook friends.
BC: So the world will know everything I read online?
AD: No, you can decide who will see the list of articles you've read.
BC: Listen, half my Facebook friends are people I don't know too well. So what happens when I'm working on a project related to sexually transmitted diseases? Can you imagine the list of articles people will find me reading?
AD: Look at the brighter side — Open Graph helps publications drive traffic to their content, it helps marketers understand your preferences and it also helps Facebook build your profile based on your reading and listening habits.
BC: Why is everything on Facebook slowly tending towards collecting information about users?
AD: It's not! For starters, what would Facebook do with that data?
BC: You tell me, you're the tech guru here. Incidentally, do you know about that Austrian law student who requested Facebook for all the personal information they had on him? He got a response — over 1200 pages of information on him, his Facebook activities, posts, messages, likes... And the scary part is that even posts he thought he had deleted were part of the document.
AD: Hey, aren't you getting a little too hyper about this?
BC: What if someone hacks those servers and retrieves information and photographs about…
AD: Why are you worried about such things, unless you have posted a photo of you dancing away on New Year's Eve in a hula skirt and have forgotten all about it?
BC: Don't worry, there's neither any incriminating evidence nor a colourful past.
AD: Think again, because Timeline's on its way...
BC: I shudder to ask — what's that?
AD: Timeline is Facebook's new way of organising all your information — comments, messages, links and photos — in a chronological fashion, the most recent ones showing up first.
BC: Another change? Oh c'mon... Can I just stick with the existing layout? I just about got used to it.
AD: Right now, Timeline's optional, but it may soon become mandatory and you may not have a choice.
BC: I don't understand it... Why is change being forced upon us?
AD: Technology's all about evolution... The trick is to ride the wave and embrace change ahead of the rest.
BC: Ahead of the rest? If Timeline's going to hit all of us at some point, why rush?
AD: Because if you opt for it now, you have seven days to ‘purge and purify', in other words, edit out all those shocking posts and photos and also review your settings so that your newfound friends don't have to see your older posts.
BC: Seven days... how dramatic! Like God made the world in seven days?
AD: Well, He rested on Sabbath, but with our hectic weekly schedule, we might be working overtime on Sunday, going through older posts.
sureshl.india@gmail.com
