OK, I want to start with full disclosure, just in case anyone stumbles on this post and hasn’t read any of my other posts, or has never met me. I’m gay and have NO sexual interest in breasts whatsoever. I do however care very much for a friend of mine – Gill.
Gill is an administrator over on a Facebook group called “Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene” which has nearly 250,000 members – that’s 1/4 million people!
With just a cursory glance at the wall of this group, as well as the huge variety of topics discussed in the discussions it’s easy to see that this is a hugely supportive network that has developed in an organic way. But the problems have started, I recently saw an update by Gill that mentioned Facebook were starting to block the accounts of the admins.
To be truly honest, my opinion on the breast v bottle debate is that I couldn’t care less (sorry Gill!) actually, it’s not that I don’t care, I do however feel that it is entirely a mother’s choice, and that this should be an informed one. But the discussion is seen as unsuitable in general company, whereas the internet is the perfect place for this sort of discussion – the group can reach and help millions of people, linking to resources and make a one-stop place for anyone with questions.
Looking at the way that Facebook is handling this group I wonder if they realise just how much power that they wield? Google, MySpace, Microsoft, AOL – all these companies have had to face up to scrutiny because of the way that they have approached the information age. Facebook wasn’t originally designed for the huge numbers of people that use it daily and the recent changes to its interface and privacy policies just show how the team are desperately trying to keep up with the huge expansion. But they seem to be concentrating more on monetising the platform at the moment, making it more of a challenger to twitter and Google than allowing the community (which is the heart of the site) to develop the networks that they need.
Facebook, be very careful with the way you’re handling this, 250 THOUSAND people is a lot of voices. And we’ve seen difficulties before, the mighty have fallen and been replaced – just as you replaced MySpace – there’s another social network out there. It might not be big, it might not even be beyond the concept stage just yet, but it’s out there. And you need to be ready for it. You need to work out a way to balance the needs of your users with the money of your sponsors and advertisers.
But most of all – you need to listen!
Photo: Alexander Tundakov
