Facebook Changes

So there's a bit of a user revolt on Facebook again, and this time it has
to do with their new look and feel. I've seen a few people comment on why
users are upset, but to be honest, I think they are far too complex in
their attempts to explain the behavior. I think it's far simpler. People
don't like other people messing with their stuff. And yes, people see
their Facebook page, or MySpace account or whatever as *their* *stuff*.

It's just like when my Dad would growl at my mom for moving his piles of
papers off the dining room table. He'd arranged them just so and knew
where everything was. He didn't want to have to repair/reinvent/relearn a
new system for his papers. It was work and he had it just like he liked
it. Even if it was the family dining table and mom needed to clean things
up.

As a teenager, I had a sign hanging on my bedroom door: Please don't
clean up the mess in my room. You'll confuse me and screw up my whole
world. Radical user interface changes are essentially the same as someone
coming into your room and cleaning it up for you. It may be better in the
long run, but at first it's an uncomfortable and unwelcome change visited
upon you by someone else, possibly at an inopportune moment.