Facebook has moved away from allowing users to add information in a conventional conversational way to something called Profile Connections. Now instead of typing "I like cheese and cheese related novelties. They fill my heart with joy and provide an outlet for my creative energies," under "interests", users can only link to other Facebook pages about cheese.
This is what is considered by Facebook as a "new and improved way to express yourself." I'm sorry, how is linking to a page created by someone else expressing me? Yes I like Agatha Christie but does her Facebook page actually reflect my interest in her? Linking to that page doesn't say anything about what I feel or think or qualify my interests in anyway.
The fact that I like a movie or a song or a personal activity doesn't really define who I am. By just linking to pages my interests have been reduced to data-base friendly quantifiable information. This improvement is just a marketing tool that will make it easier for Facebook advertisers to target me.
In the past on Facebook, the interests section was a way describing yourself. These new "Profile Connections" don't allow you to do that. Instead it allows you to describe your interest. You're simply saying "I like Agatha Christie, click here if you don't know who she is. Now buy a book."
I'd rather have a blank profile thank you very much.
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