Facebook Walks a Thin Line

Tuesday, students across the country awoke to a new Facebook, one with 'news feeds' on their friends every virtual step. Whose relationship went from 'its complicated' to 'single?' What friendships have gone sour in the past few days? Just check the news feed. Its all there.

Users immediately became unsettled, thinking Facebook has taken it too far. Yes, they know that this information was available before the news feeds, but never compiled into a chronological list for all to see.

According to Online Media Daily, this has caused one of the largest backlashes in recent Web history. Groups in protest have sprung up and by Thursday morning, over half a million out of 9 million Facebook users have joined the group 'Students Against Facebook Newsfeed'. There is a boycott staged on September 12 to get the message across to Mark Zuckerberg, site founder and CEO that users want either the 'news feed' removed, or the option to remove themselves from the 'news feed' option.

According to chief marketing officer for NielsenBuzzMetrics, Pete Blackshaw, the Facebook mishap proves that 'these CGM venues are very, very delicate and fragile from a user reaction perspective. Changing stuff can have a real downside, because there's always the potential for consumers to rise up and revolt and out CGM you.'

When using CGM, its extremely important to recognize consumers interests and not cross the line. As in the case of Facebook, consumers may turn on you over night, and the results might not be pretty.