Facebook's iOS app starts polluting News Feed with 'People you may know'
The folks at App Advice contacted us about something I just noticed myself this morning: Facebook's iOS app is rolling out a "People you may know" feature identical to what's on the social network's full site.
This new Facebook feature has instantly got me and many other users annoyed at the app, particularly after the recent "#dickbar" debacle which convinced me to permanently abandon the official Twitter client for a third-party app. Some people may welcome this feature, but part of the reason I like Facebook's iPhone app more than the actual site itself is that a lot of the useless cruft that pollutes Facebook is stripped away in its app. I don't get deluged with ads or those annoying little app requests that people like to send out en masse; instead, all I'm presented with is all I actually want, the News Feed, photos and my friends list.
Much like the official Twitter app's (now mercifully removed) QuickBar, this "People you may know" feature is something completely irrelevant to my interests (absolutely everyone ever suggested by this feature has been someone I do not actually know). Like Twitter's QuickBar, I know I'll never use this feature, but it's also something that, for now, I'm unable to get rid of. I seriously hope the Facebook team has learned from the backlash over Twitter's QuickBar and isn't planning on making "People you may know" a permanent feature that users aren't allowed to disable. Otherwise, at least there are always third-party options to tide me over until they come to their senses.
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The folks at App Advice contacted us about something I just noticed myself this morning: Facebook's iOS app is rolling out a "People you...
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What's more disturbing is it gives you access to the Profile feed of the person suggested. Does this mean my own Profile is now open to other people who are not on my Friends list?
April 26 2011 at 8:51 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThis isn't quite as annoying as the #DickBar. At least when you scroll it's gone, the DickBar just floated there. However there does need to be a confirmation when you add a friend. I accidentally hit the add friend on some kid I didn't know and they wanted to know why I wanted to be their friend.
April 26 2011 at 6:33 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI seem to recall a blog post I read on another apple blog saying how "cool" it was that Facebook could now put whatever the hell they wanted in the iOS app news feed without releasing an app update.
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/04/15/facebook-for-iphone-can-now-change-its-news-feed-appearance-inst/
Oh wait…it was this blog.
Haha, oh irony.
But it's not TUAW's fault that FB is using this power for evil.
Seems downright stupid that there's no way to disable it, or at least say "NO, F**K this person, I'm not friends with them for a reason."
Is it just me or is the app crashing all the time after this last update?
April 26 2011 at 2:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHa, I thought I pressed something and I didn't feel like playing around with it too much and thought it would just go away
April 26 2011 at 2:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyInteresting that I haven't seen this (or at least, haven't noticed)… though I am still on an iPhone 3G, desperately holding out for the iPhone 5. The Facebook app is bad enough for me lately, taking literally minutes at times to load up my news feed, and responsiveness is all but nonexistent. (Just wish I could figure out if it's Facebook, network issues, a nearly full HD or just age issues.)
April 26 2011 at 1:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAs far as I can see, Facebook is mainly a form of pollution anyway.
April 26 2011 at 12:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhy don't they just fix all refreshing / notification / sync / etc bugs of the actual app?
April 26 2011 at 11:32 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWow yeah, I'm pissed. Honestly, this annoys me more than the dickbar. And as someone pointed out on another site that I happened to glance at, it's not like people that are suggested on there are people that I couldn't have added already. Beyond that, doesn't Facebook realize that there's pretty much nobody that we know that we haven't added as friends? If I wanted to add that chick I met at a party 6 years ago with that guy that I'm not friends with anymore, I would've.
April 26 2011 at 10:26 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI saw this yesterday and immediately thought "I hate this stupid app." It's always been a piece of crap. Facebook should fire the developers they apparently borrowed from Twitter and hire some REAL app developers.
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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