Comments on: As Facebook turns 5, a look back east

The conservative, calculated Ivy League origins of the social network sowed the seeds for its Silicon Valley success. Facebook's initial allure was its simplicity and exclusivity.

[jeroneanderson]

And all this goes to show why facebook was cool in the beginning when only a few people you actually knew could join. Facebook has forgotten its roots. Now it is just one more cluttered website which has become uncool as those defining features have been lost. Many people joining now will never know the streamlined simple interface which defined it in the beginning and the caché of being able to join. Unfortunately this has led some people who joined in the beginning to leave and if this continues perhaps they should lose the annoying new "features" and return to their roots.

[gopnick]

As I went to login and make this post, I had to chuckle when I saw the graphic link that said, "Login with Facebook".

I have been on Facebook since right after it was made available to non-Ivy League schools. I, too, was upset with the news feed, upset with "allowing everyone to join," etc. However, I was wrong. FB has done an amazing job at keeping it simple, keeping it working and fast (unlike that mess that is MySpace), keeping the sexual predators out, and making FB about truly connecting with your friends and co-workers rather than about "hooking up", such as is the case with MySpace.

[Blacksheep1982]

I've been on FB since my college (I graduated 3 years ago now, sheesh) was first allowed access in Spring (or was it fall?) 2005. I must say that I was upset when they decided to allow just anyone in and then all the changes to the interface bothered me because it created clutter. I calmed down and adjusted to the interface, but I basically made my account invisible after they allowed everyone on, pretty much only my friends can see me and I think I even hid myself from search results.

I didn't join Myspace for a reason, I didn't want my info just out there on Google for anyone, I just wanted to put up some stuff to keep in touch with a few friends and classmates. I'm glad facebook added the privacy features, but if it were still college only, I'd probably have my account more open then it is now. I don't need Joe Crazy adding me because he has the same name or something, which is what started happening after they let everyone in!

[drexcrombie]

I joined fbook in 2004 when it became open to Drexel, and I loved the anonymity of checking up on people through their profile (best invention for finding out if your significant other is cheating)... That being said, when fbook became available to everyone (creepers included), I also changed my privacy settings and became (or so I hope) invisible to the fbook community. I've had many people say they can't find me, and if you have two people who are invisible on searches, this makes it virtually impossible to find one another. The people who have been members from the start definitely have an elitist attitude (I know I do!) when it comes to the new members who don't have a college (or business) network.

With all of that, I'm glad that I didn't delete my profile when I was looking for a post-grad job. I've kept in touch with a bunch of my friends that I wouldn't have otherwise. I wish that they would rid fbook of the dumb applications that no self-respecting person should ever use (seriously, go to myspace if you want crap like that), but luckily we can still control the addition of them, and the layout has been kept simple (love the tabs feature).

I did rather enjoy the massive outcry when fbook released the NewsFeed - reading people's reactions was HILARIOUS. It was like the world was ending. NewsFeed has become a fun time-waster, and it takes you to people's profiles that you ordinarily wouldn't visit - essentially creating a better version of "stalkerBook", but more fun if you're a normal, non-stalker, human being. :)