Earlier this year, Web2.0 was in an uproar over Facebook’s redesigned site, countless media outlets reported on the attention the new site design received and how users formed a Facebook fan page to voice their dislike over the change. All told, nearly 600K Facebook users are fans of the page in just nine days – that’s a pretty gutsy, using the medium you’re against to complain.
Twitter may soon be in a similar situation, last week they changed settings removing the user’s ability to see @replies of people they don’t follow – basically the conversation you’re a part of will be limited to those you follow/ follow you. For those who are less Twit-savvy, the @reply is your way of replying/ linking a conversation, here’s a page on the Twitter Blog that makes it a little clearer.
Facebook has taken steps to do damage control to quell their recent user unrest and has given the user more control over how information is displayed. Twitter may soon be fashioning similar changes to meet the user requirements… regardless of the outcome these two examples show that the social networks are owned by the users. The free services may be democracies; they just have the occasional threat of mutiny to keep the checks and balances.
