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Facebook Year in Review feature was Facebook’s way of reminding its users of the best moments of 2014. The feature is like a digital card that highlights the biggest and most important moments that were customized algorithmically for each Facebook user.
The feature shows pictures in posts that are designed in a slick way and can be scrolled down like a newsfeed. Although many found the Facebook Year in Review feature quite satisfying, some were deeply upset by it.
One of those people who did not find the new Facebook feature appropriate is Eric Meyer whose daughter passed away this year on her 6th birthday. Meyer was deeply upset by the Facebook feature and wrote a blog post in which he criticized it.
Meyer said that he knows Facebook did not intend to upset its users but criticized the giant social media platform saying that the feature had some major design flaws. He blames the algorithmic ways in which the feature functions, saying that Facebook only designed the feature for those whose year was full of positive events. Meyer said that Facebook did not take into account those who suffered great losses this past year.
He said in the blog post that:
“…those of us who lived through the death of loved ones, or spent extended time in the hospital, or were hit by divorce or losing a job or any one of a hundred crises, we might not want another look at this past year.”
Meyer suggested that Facebook could have better designed the feature and not adding pictures to it that users did not choose and did not want to see. He added that Facebook should have asked the user before arranging and posting the photos, or at least to have shown the users a preview of the app so that they could have agreed or not with the selected photos.
After Meyer’s complaints, a Facebook representative, Jonathan Gheller, who is the product manager sent his apologies in an email saying that the Facebook Year in Review brought a lot of joy to many Facebook users, but to Mr. Meyer it reminded him of his profound loss.
Eric Meyer was not the only one troubled by the Facebook Year in Review feature. Many complained about the fact that the feature selected inappropriate photos and displayed them in a positive context. The Facebook users who were not happy about the new feature advised Facebook to design their apps better in the future in order to avoid upsetting people.
Image Source: slashgear
