Tag Archives: Facebook User Experience

Should Facebook retire inactive followers ?

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Here’s why monitoring engagement trends is important

Recently after logging into Facebook,I was asked to update my mobile number to help detect “unauthorized access” in future.After I did this,I started receiving text messages on my mobile that could be turned off by either sending an SMS to a number (for which there is a minuscule charge) or could be turned off in the Facebook Settings page (no charge).This might seem sneaky to some people but most corporations nowadays are looking for various ways to generate revenue(legal but may not be ethical,what do you think??).

Facebook is looking at increasing the engagement from followers but has lost its lustre somewhat over the past 24 months,diluted by users’ affinity to other social networks (or) because people finally figured out that life happens outside of Facebook too!!

Facebook’s recent acquisition of WhatsApp shows how crucial it is for “more eyeballs”,”more ears” to stay relevant.

 

What Facebook should do : Introduce an element of exclusivity to stay relevant.

Most people deactivate their Facebook account and re-activate it several times.Some users do not use their Facebook accounts for months on end.Facebook accounts belonging to dead people/people in coma  are active, resulting in notifications that ask you to wish them on their birthday!!(I noticed this from personal experience).

Facebook could retire inactive accounts (inactive for certain period of time) and charge users (could be a nominal fee <$3 ) to re-join.This will increase engagement involuntarily as people would share stuff (or)engage in conversation just to keep their accounts active.

Dead people do not generate conversations unless they are celebrities or terrorists 🙂 (see below)

 

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Avoiding the embarrassment of generating birthday notifications for dead users/inactive accounts (unless requested by loved ones) should be one of Facebook’s priorities to stay relevant to its users.

What do you think?Please let me know your thoughts about this in the comments section.

 

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Facebook ‘Like’ is NOT Expressive ENOUGH

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Do you really like what you ‘LIKE’ on Facebook?

A few days ago,I was reading a post about a brave woman who had survived an acid attack and noticed that a lot of people had ‘LIKED’ her story.What they had meant to convey was that they saluted her story of courage and EMPATHIZED with her rather than just LIKE.People who had the time for comments were able to convey their sentiments far more accurately.

Most people/organizations want to get a certain amount of ‘likes’ for a social cause,an urgent medical operation or a new venture.Nobody actually stops to consider what the ‘likes’ should actually mean.

For someone who does care about getting an accurate picture of the emotions in response to a post;I have a suggestion.

Facebook should include an additional feature that can complement or replace the ‘Like’ option.I call this the ‘Heart’ feature.The ‘heart’ can be in 3 colors —-pink,red,black.

Pink Heart ♥—- Something which you like and makes you break into a faint smile,friends’ photos or a business venture.

. Red Heart ♥ —- When you feel strongly about something and want to show you empathize

Black Heart  ♥— If you want to express your displeasure at posts e.g terrorist attacks,articles on corruption,unfairness etc .

Using the the above 3 ‘heart’ options would add more character to the responses unlike the uni-dimensional ‘LIKE’ option.

SO,Do you ‘LIKE’ this??

P.S :There was a rumor about Facebook coming up with a ‘sympathise’ button but Facebook dropped the idea after a lot of negative reactions(see below) :–

FACEBOOK DESIGNED ‘SYMPATHISE’ BUTTON TO REPLACE ‘LIKE’ BUTTON