History Platform / Facebook

As with [=MySpace=], the mere mention of Facebook in online forums and IRC channels can [[InternetBackdraft cause people to launch into long rants about why they don't use social networking sites]].

* FoodPorn: As on [[{{Instagram}} another major social networking site]], people seem to feel an inexplicable urge to let the world know what they're eating for lunch (with pictures).

The latter half of TheNewTens has seen the company embroiled in controversy after controversy with 2018 being the roughest year (it lost roughly 20% of its valuation). In a February 2018 indictment, the US Special Counsel Robert Mueller laid out how the Russian government was able to spread propaganda on American social media in general but especially on Facebook. They sold roughly $100,000 worth of ads to the state-sanctioned troll farm, the Internet Research Agency, which was seen by about ten million Americans. Facebook wasn't charged with anything and was seen more as a conduit rather than an intentional malicious actor. That March, another scandal about their role in politics broke. They admitted that a British company called Cambridge Analytica was able to harvest the data of 87 million people without their consent to be targeted for political ads since 2014. The company targeted ads for both Ted Cruz and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaigns, the Brexit vote, and the 2018 Federal elections in Mexico. It was reported in April 2019 that Facebook is expecting a $3-5 billion fine from the Federal Trade Commission for violating a 2011 privacy agreement in the scandal. They were also accused in a United Nations report to have been complicit in the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim ethnic group in Myanmar. They did not hire a translator to moderate their traffic, letting AI do the work. The AI was not able to catch the nuances in the language and allowed the state to post anti-Rohingya propagnda as well as coordinate. There were also several smaller scandals involving privacy issues like sharing data with third apps as well as videos and pictures that were meant to be private.

** It still comes up on other sites like news ones, which let people use their Facebook profiles to leave comments.
** And of course [[http://i.imgur.com/DuvaT.gif leaving your profile logged in is risky...]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Definitely. In its very earliest form, the website was restricted to a tiny handful of universities, and explicitly designed as a tool for socializing on university campuses. It also didn't have status updates for the first five years of its existence, and didn't add a "Like" button until the year after that; by now, both features have largely taken over the website, even though the the website started to gain popularity many years before either of them were introduced.

* SeriousBusiness: Aside from the flame wars people start by commenting on more sensitive topics, friending/defriending, personal posts, comments and notes are taken ''very'' seriously, to the point where defriending someone is considered equivalent to spitting in his face. People expect to get sympathy for every problem with their lives there, so simple relationship breakups and accidentally burning a pizza become equivalent to Armageddon. Some users go so far as to report harassment if one decides to decline participation in an event, and will flat-out block you for simply not going to the said event.

Facebook's layout has gone through several major changes, each one triggering a mass epidemic of "DarthWiki/RuinedFOREVER." Ironically, each new update has people rushing to defend the old layout, deciding it was not so bad after all despite laying into that one prior. In addition to this, the media and some more tech-savvy members of the public have found a place to whip Facebook where it hurts the most: privacy. Over time, Facebook has implemented different levels of privacy for its user profiles (while urging people to use caution before posting any compromising photos or rants).

Originally, it was much more low-key than MySpace: A user needed an official school e-mail address to join. To a registered user, the interface worked somewhat similarly (a user could view everyone in his network, but would have to add friends from other networks to view their profiles). Because it came out in spring 2004, anyone who had graduated from college in 2003 or earlier was essentially forbidden from becoming a member, due to their lack of an official school account. Schools were also added piecemeal, so your friend might invite you to join, but find that your college wasn't in the site's database yet.

* MisplacedNationalism: Plenty of rather nasty nationalist groups can be found on the site. Luckily, reporting them can yield results if the people in charge pay attention.
** Even the more benevolent groups dedicated to a country will usually have a problem at some point with their walls being trolled by people of other nationalities who don't like them.

* UnusualEuphemism: Any time a profile says "Self Employed," there's a very good chance it really means '''un'''employed, especially when their supposed actual business isn't mentioned anywhere.

** Facebook's [[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/29/campaigners_get_facebook_response/ announcement]] of a new policy has stuck some users as this. The new rules would ban anything that "promotes violence" against women. While this sounds like a good idea many have criticized the rather vague and loose wording as well as the fact that is does not offer the same protections for men. The fact that it bases its judgments and training solely on feminist claims and ([[UsefulNotes/{{Feminism}} misunderstood]]) beliefs has also drawn [[http://www.avoiceformen.com/feminism/feminist-lies-feminism/facebook-hates-women/ some attention.]]

Facebook is home to a variety of third-party applications, including some rather addictive games like ''VideoGame/MafiaWars'' and ''FarmVille''. In fact, [[JustHereForGodzilla some people have Facebook accounts for the sole purpose of playing games]].

* {{Spammer}}: This is one of the NewTens way spammers operate.

** And you likely know a married couple who share a Facebook page with a name something like "[[PortmanteauCoupleName Billyandmaria Smithperson]]". And unless they say who's posting, you can't tell which one is.

** If you post detailed information about when and where you plan on traveling for your honeymoon, and your address, and don't have strict privacy settings ... well, don't be surprised when your house gets burgled while you're away.

** Regardless of your opinions on the matter, it is obvious that Facebook has a very strong anti-gun bias. Pro-gun Facebook pages get closed down on a regular basis for no stated reason, while groups such as Mom's Demand Action literally support genocide against gun owners and are never punished by Facebook.
** While hate groups against the usual targets (Jews, African Americans, LGBT people, etc.) are not tolerated, hate groups against [[AcceptableEthnicTargets smaller, lesser known minorities]] (lesser known in the US at least) and the "majority" groups, like whites, males, or heterosexual/cisgender people, are often left alone no matter how many times they get reported for being racist.

As of 2014, Facebook remains one of the most popular (and actually still more low-key; it hasn't taken as much flak as [[NewMediaAreEvil whipping boy]] [=MySpace=]) networking sites out there. More and more sites are adding Facebook Like buttons on their pages, making it look as if Facebook is taking over the Internet. It lacks most of [=MySpace's=] profile-customization options; no sparklies or rainbow-colored fonts allowed. This may be to Facebook's benefit, as it creates a more professional feeling. However, there are a huge number of applications that one can add to one's profile, for anything from horoscopes to celebrity-lookalike pictures. As of now, it has over '''1 billion''' users.

* HomeGame: Sort of. There are Facebook versions of ''Series/WheelOfFortune'', ''ThePriceIsRight'', ''PressYourLuck'', ''Series/FamilyFeud'' and ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}''.

* LostForever: Previously, you could only change your name as it is displayed up to four times, then after that you can only choose a name you've previously used. Now the only limit is that you can only change your name once every 60 days.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere[=/=]{{Ragequit}}: Every now and then people decide to take a stand against this site, as they feel their privacy is seriously compromised, or just their time.

** RevealingCoverup: Along with "failed search for a profile", if a post/comment has a single like, and it is from a blocked person, once the mouse hovers the thumbs-up the hand disappears!

* TooDumbToLive: If you post detailed information about when and where you plan on traveling for your honeymoon, and your address, and don't have strict privacy settings ... well, don't be surprised when your house gets burgled while you're away.

* {{Xkcd}} has a few. [[http://xkcd.com/300]] [[http://xkcd.com/355]] [[http://xkcd.com/624]] [[http://xkcd.com/672]] [[http://xkcd.com/1239]]

* LostForever: You can change your name as it is displayed, but only up to four times. The fifth time you try to do so, you can only change to a name you've had previously.