If you weren’t already aware, you have a Facebook email address, ending in facebook.com. And now Facebook is attempting a full domination of the communication world, by swirling together SMS, IM and email into one big Facebook messaging system.
They introduced a Facebook messaging app for smartphones, separate from the (crappy) Facebook app, in order to encroach on the SMS-via-Internet market that apps like Whatsapp and Viber (LINKLINK) have taken advantage of. I’ve been using the FB messenger and so far it’s been pretty good – certainly doesn’t have the annoying inconsistency in push notifications that Skype has.
Their latest attempt at dominance has been to push their so-far unnoticed emailing system. While the email has actually been there for some time, no one really uses it. Facebook is now rolling out changes, which will push the email agenda: they are making your default email address your Facebook.com address, so it is the email that people will see first in your info tab. In fact, it’s the only address. And they didn’t really tell you about it.
Of course, Facebook frames the changes as a way to help users protect privacy – you won’t get random people seeing your email address when they look at your profile, protecting your fragile little inbox. But that seems a bit flimsy to me – you were always able to hide your email address from your profile so if you really were terrified of someone stealing your cyber postbox, you could easily have done so before. The only real reason that Facebook would be pushing through such a change would be to stomp about in email land and we know it.
What makes me irritated is how they’re pushing through this rather trivial change to our profiles when there are so many other problems with Facebook’s usability that needs fixing. Sharing function from smartphone apps for one, not to mention the loading time of photos and wall feeds on those apps. Making it easier to unfriend people, making privacy settings more obvious, and simplifying the initial setup of an account – especially for a non-gen y or younger crowd.
It would seem Facebook’s new monetizing focus is only making the whole platform a whole lot less user friendly. It may have social network dominance at the moment, but I think it’s getting dangerously close to losing its footing…I’m even starting to flirt with Google plus, even though I’ve been a staunch Facebook man for sometime now. Google plus does look rather pretty…
Better watch out Facebook…
If you want your regular email back up on your profile, lifehacker has posted instructions on how to retrieve it from the labyrinth that Facebook settings has become here.
Editor’s note: Speaking of Google Plus, if you haven’t already done so, be sure to follow us right here! :)
[via Buzzfeed | Photo Credit: birgerking]