tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539419205765420572011-04-21T18:40:21.894-07:00Alexander Chunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03754902001252254673noreply@blogger.comBlogger11100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53941920576542057.post-83770794737750546182009-04-05T09:45:00.000-07:002009-04-05T09:52:45.538-07:00<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px; ">User backlash is becoming a predictable reaction to redesigns of Facebook. Polls show that 95% of people disapprove of recent changes to the news feed experience, rejecting the “stream and filter” system.</span><br /></div><span style=""><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">It seems, as Robert Scoble puts it, that Facebook has “pissed off its users” with each reinvention it undertakes. Back in 2006, the introduction of a news feed sparked a major outcry, with users petitioning and boycotting the changes. Today, people are just as furious: The “Petition Against The New Facebook” has garnered support from over 1.7 million people.</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span></span></span><br /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span class="apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Popular opinion suggests that Facebook isn’t listening to its customers – that it pursues an introspected schedule of monetization changes that consistently miss the mark with users.   </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span></span></span><br /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span class="apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">However, it would be a mistake to reduce the current discontent to bad strategy. Instead, psychological findings about the role that uncertainty plays in adoption of new products could provide a sounder explanation of why Facebook users are so resistant to change.  </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span></span></span><br /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span class="apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In 2002, Princeton’s Daniel Kahneman won a Noble Prize, for discovering that people are impacted more by the loss of familiar product experiences than the benefits presented by new, unfamiliar improvements.</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span></span></span><br /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span class="apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The feud between Facebook and its users seems to stick to this trend of “status-quo bias”. Michael Arrington notes that when it comes to Facebook, “making users happy is a suckers game” because you won’t end up pushing the envelope.</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span></span></span><br /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span class="apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">There is a lesson in Arrington’s comment: consumers are generally conservative when it comes to new product innovation. In fact, it’s well documented that the majority (approximately 84%) of the population do not adopt new products immediately.    </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span></span></span><br /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span class="apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px; ">The repeated backlash that Facebook experiences is likely linked to the idea that it cannot phase out its innovations to different groups. It can’t avoid the 84% of the population that would rather stick with what they already know, for the mean time. A Facebook redesign affects everyone, all at once.</span><br /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span class="apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 13px; ">Something to think about: Could Facebook limit backlash by phasing out changes to those who are most accommodating?</span><br /></div></span></span><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/53941920576542057-8377079473775054618?l=catchandfeel.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Alexander Chunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03754902001252254673noreply@blogger.com0