IsCool

HEY FaceBook, This is So NOT Cool - Telling me I haven't Talked On Facebook Lately With Someone Who Is Dead

Facebook's new way to annoy users is this feature that attempts to get you to re-engage with your friends, think of them as "friends" that you haven't spoken to in a while.

In theory, not a bad thing to try and automate.   Those college buddies in France or New York you haven't talked to (facebooked with) in a while, why not re-connect.  What could go wrong?

Well, in this case, Facebook decided to try to get me to talk to someone that is dead.

A family friend. 

In this case a very well known family friend with a long record of public service.

This from his New York Times obituary:

Kenneth H. Bacon, a former journalist and Pentagon spokesman who devoted his last years to highlighting refugees’ problems and urging policymakers to find solutions, died Saturday morning at his summer home on Block Island, R.I. He was 64 and a resident of Washington.

Now, I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want to be reminded that I haven't "talked" lately to a family friend that is dead.

What if I was his son?  Or his Wife?

Facebook has some serious rethinking around this feature.

I know that I do not want to be given a suggestion to get back in touch with any family member that may have died.

Facebook.  Get with the plan.

UPDATE:  Facebook has a way to deal with this.  I think.  Here it is.

Women Over 55 Storm Facebook - 2.12.09 Tweet Of The Day

Who knew?

Women over 55 using Facebook grew by 175.3% since September 2008, making mature females one of the fastest growing demographic groups on the social network, according to usage statistics released by independent blog Inside Facebook.

This tweet, at 40 clicks, made the Tweet of the Day!:

• #IsCool? - Women Over 55 Take Facebook by Storm - US women over age 55 using Facebook grew by 175.3% since September 2008. - http://ow.ly/ejm

Comments:

This is definitely cool.  Particularly for Facebook.  Facebook still suffers a tad bit from the fact that it started as a "face book" for college students and the brand remains, to this day, in the stranglehold of being a place the under 30 crowd.

This data shows that Facebook is, very fast, becoming a place for all types of people for all ages.  

That means that advertisers are going to be interested in spending money, particularly if FaceBook can target ads to specific target segments and deliver results.

Thoughts?