Why I Hate Facebook Messages

19 Apr 2011 . category: . Comments

Every time I log into Facebook, I cringe when I see a red “speech bubble” over the messages icon. I’ve never liked Facebook messages–I find them an incomplete solution to a problem that’s already been solved. Now, though, I’ve got a list of reasons that I’d submit to you to consider when communicating over Facebook.

• Lack of Interoperability. The wonderful thing about e-mail is that it is a federated system. If you’ve got a Hotmail account and I’ve got a Gmail account, we can still talk to each other. This is because both providers have mail servers that are able to talk to each other in a standard way. As a Facebook user, you will have no choice but to limit your messages to other Facebook users who allow you to message them.
• Poor Ability to Search. On Gmail, I can search across all fields of my messages (to, from, subject), in specific date ranges, and look for attachments. In Facebook messages, all I get is a single search box. That makes it a pain in the neck if I want to go back to find an phone number or address, or even just a message that’s really old.
• Limited Options for Exporting Data. Granted, there are ways to back up your data on Facebook (read here), but they’re clunky and don’t focus on messages. Your email, on the other hand, is easy to back up, and easy to browse afterwards. (read here)
• Noisy Environment. Looking through my 50 most recent messages, I see nothing from anyone I know personally or really care about. All my messages are coming from events that I’ve done nothing about–just being invited to them has put me on a distribution list. This is what’s called “Bacn”, or messages that aren’t spam but aren’t important, either (read here). There is no way to separate out personal messages from all this event noise.

• No Management Capabilites. When you search for “facebook block messages”, you see a ton of results for people asking how to block messages from events and/or individuals (see here). In Gmail, or any other email service, you can set it up so that the offending mail goes straight to the trash can. (read here). 
• Buggy Implementation. Email has been around for decades–it’s a pretty complete solution. Messages, on the other hand, are something built into Facebook. They’re much newer, and like much of Facebook, they don’t always work correctly. I’d rather not rely on a system where I can see an error like the one below on a daily basis.

But there’s one reason above all that I don’t like Facebook messages. 

I really, really, REALLY don’t trust Facebook. At all.

If you use Facebook messages as your primary method of communication, you’re essentially giving Facebook the keys to your personal life. Facebook can make decisions like blocking specific content or reaching into your inbox without telling you anything. Further, you have no ability to move your messages anywhere else. They’re stuck inside Facebook. 

Facebook does nothing better than email. The only thing it has going for it is convenience, since it’s built into a site you use almost every day. And I won’t lie, there are benefits, too. Facebook messages are great for planning small-scale events, among other things. But for everything else, please use email. Please. Don’t give a single corporation the ability to monitor and control all your messages.

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