Do you know what Facebook did to your account?
Jun 26, 2012, 7:48 AM | Updated: 9:27 am
Facebook has changed the default email address displayed by users to a Facebook address without notifying them, angering many. (CBS News image)
(CBS News image)
In what’s become a frequent happening, Facebook users are
up in arms (again) over the latest change to the
ubiquitous social networking site. The latest episode
is an unannounced change to the way the company users’
contact information.
Facebook has suddenly replaced the email address you
display on your profile page with an (at)facebook.com
address. Messages sent to that address end up in your
Facebook messages section.
The move has sparked plenty of criticism from Facebook
users after it was first discovered by bloggers.
But 97.3 KIRO FM anchor and social media expert Linda
Thomas doesn’t understand the uproar. It’s a simple fix
to switch your profile back to the previous settings.
“It’s a free service. It’s all optional. We’re the ones
who are giving away our information and telling Facebook
you can do whatever you want with it, (but) then we get
all
upset,” Thomas says.
But for many, it’s Facebook’s refusal to notify users of
changes before they happen that raises their ire. Still,
Thomas says a couple of clicks will restore your profile.
“I have hidden the Facebook email address they have given
me and gone back to what I want it to be. Visit your
Timeline or profile page and select “About” under your
contact information. You can then hide your Facebook email
address from the contact page and elect to highlight
another email address.”
Experts say the move is just the latest effort to keep
users from leaving the social networking site by drawing
more of its 900 million monthly users to use Facebook as a
primary tool in place of email, text and other
communications services.
Facebook didn’t say why it made the email switch, though
it said in April it was “updating addresses on Facebook to
make them more consistent across our site.”
“Ever since the launch of Timeline, people have had the
ability to control what posts they want to show or hide on
their own Timelines, and today, we’re extending that to
other information they post, starting with the Facebook
address,” Facebook spokeswoman Jillian Stefanki said in an
email late Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
