Dear Facebook, Thanks To All Your Recent Disasters, I Have Lost All Faith In You As A User

Dear Facebook,

We've been together a long time, and I don¡¯t know if I've ever appreciated you for what you do. You remind me of birthdays I'd surely miss otherwise, you help me keep in touch with old friends, for a while there you even had a few games I enjoyed.

Times have really changed since, you¡¯ve gotten bigger and absorbed my favourite messaging client. Which brings me to my main point.

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Thank you so much for not pushing ads straight into my WhatsApp inbox. I really appreciate not being spammed in chats the way I've been through SMS. You know, to the point the Indian government believes it necessary to take executive action? Anyway, I do appreciate not having to slog through ads in my chat logs for an overpriced flat i can't afford, or a feminine hygiene product I don't need, or how to get healthy on Ayurvedic medication. Seriously, thanks for not doing that.

However, I do feel like we need to address a little bit of oversight that might have occurred between that whole ¡°data privacy¡± hullabaloo earlier this year and now. You see, the problem I had then wasn't JUST specifically with the fact that my data wasn't being regulated once out of your hands. I also kinda didn't like that you weren't being completely honest.

I mean think about it. Have I ever complained when you've shown me ads in my timeline? I know you have a job to do and you need to be paid for it, so '¡¯ve tried to be a good friend. But then you started taking more and more data. And I think I'm obliged, as your friend, to let you know you're kinda losing it.

I'm honestly fine with you letting business partners proposition me in your office, your platform, because at least then they ask if I want to chat with them on WhatsApp. But when you send their ads straight to my Status tab, you're basically sending strangers into my home.

Oh, I can opt-out? Oh how lovely. Sure, go ahead and keep having strangers wait in my living room, I mean it's all ok if I can kick them out once they¡¯re already sitting on my couch right? It doesn't matter that they've already poked their noses through my things right? That's totally not an invasion of my privacy.

Sigh...

Look. I¡¯m trying to stay calm here, but you do make things difficult. I mean, did all the trouble with the US senate and the Indian government, and so many other places teach you nothing? Even as I write this, I hear that you've been hacked and sensitive information of 50 million Facebook users has been siphoned off. I mean I know you've grown, but I thought you would've grown up, too.

Let me appeal to your sense of reason here. How long do you think people are going to tolerate your behaviour? Sure, you were kind of a big deal back in the day, but you know there are plenty of other guys to post and share and like with right? Most of the people coming back to you right now are older and don't like change, but even they won't stand for the same nonsense a second time.

I knew things were going downhill when Brian and Jan left, but now I hear Kevin and Mike are gone too? And Brian's been telling everyone how awful you are and all the horrible plans you have, shouldn't at least that make you take the hint? Can anyone stand to work with you anymore?

I don¡¯t know, that's just my two cents on the matter. I've been seeing the path you've set yourself on, and it doesn't look good. Everyday I hope you learn from past mistakes, but that seems like a distant possibility now. Maybe there's still a chance for you, but only if you wake up and take a good look in the mirror. You can lose money, it's always possible to earn it back later. But once you lose the trust of the people you¡¯re appealing to, it's a harsh climb back out of that pit.

I hope you read this Facebook, and I hope you listen. It's been fun, but there are some things I'm willing to deal with from you, and some things I'm not. So learn and change before it becomes too much. Or it may be too late.

Signed

Your old friend

Now a distant well-wisher