The new NEW Facebook.

I've seen a lot of hate being spewed out over the Internet regarding the new Facebook interface. Comments have ranged from 'Stalker-ish ' to 'MARK ARE YOU CRAZY WHY I DUN GEDDIT?!' It is a source of amusement that this topic seems to provoke so much outrage at all, considering that Facebook has gone through many interface changes before.

Those changes provoked similar levels of vitriol and bile being directed at Messrs Zuckerberg & Co. But guess what? You're still on Facebook.

What continues to provide much mirth and merriment is that in spite of all that hate, people continue to use Facebook, regardless of its interface changes or liberal view on privacy. It is because of this that the Facebook team see no problem with all that they are doing. Hardly anyone is leaving Faecbook. There are hundreds and thousands of new users daily.

Simply put, they can do anything that they want, and people will put up with it.

This makes me wonder about the sort of expectations that people have on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Just what do you really want from all of these things? Everyone should know by now that the Internet is a domain that places privacy pretty low on the list of priorities, even if it's Facebook we're talking about. You put your information up there, and people can see it. "Ahh, but I can set privacy settings, right?"

Right up to a point. Because people at Facebook can still see what you've stuck up there. For you to have true privacy, indulge in a real physical social network, not an electronic one such as Facebook. Call your friends and family up. Meet them. Print out your photos. Make copies for everyone. That's what real social interaction is like. Have coffee. Make dinner parties. Consequently, and no surprise here, you can actually control who you meet, what they see, and what you want to keep to yourself. Job done, you have your 'privacy.'

I appreciate Facebook as much as the next guy, and I enjoy it for what it is. It is not the by-word for social interaction and privacy that many people seem to perceive it to be. Which is the point. Facebook will not replace your real friends or the secrets you share with them. Remember that the next time you complain that Mark and the Gang are stripping away every layer of privacy you have.

You asked for it.