Gallery: 9 Things We Miss, Say Good Riddance to, and Want Next From Facebook
Riaz Kanani/Flickr01status
The few Ivy Leaguers privileged enough to join "[Thefacebook](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thefacebook.png)" nine years ago would hardly recognize the site today. Facebook has long since shed its early exclusivity (along with its clumsy definite article). With more users than all but a few countries have citizens, Facebook spans national borders and social strata, empowering what optimists see as a new kind of digital citizen. But Facebook is hardly a democracy. Through most of its existence, changes to Facebook features and privacy policies have led to frequent outcries that sometimes heeded, sometimes ignored. The complaints reflect a certain naivete: Ever since Mark Zuckerberg took his first round of venture capital, Facebook has existed as a for-profit undertaking. And since going public last May, Facebook has a whole new constituency it's legally obligated to please. Sometimes the interests of Facebook shareholders and users conflict. In such conflicts, users don't always win. As so many of us frequently need to be reminded: Facebook is free. We users are not the customers. We are the product. That said, a billion voices raised in resentment over a new feature is hard to ignore. So let the movement start here: In honor of Facebook's ninth anniversary, nine things we want, we miss or we're glad are gone. Like! Miss: When your status was an actual status ------------------------------------------- Believe it or not, there was a time when your Facebook newsfeed had actual news about your friends' comings and goings. Ironically, the cultural shift among Facebook users from updates about what you were doing to updates about what you were thinking happened around 2007 -- the same year the iPhone made updating your status from out in the world easier than ever. *Photo: [Riaz Kanani](http://www.flickr.com/photos/razorshine/4662188057/lightbox/)/Flickr*
Alison Yin and Adm Golub02howwemet
Miss: How We Met ---------------- For a while, the act of friending someone on Facebook came with the option of ticking a box to remind your would-be "friend" of how you knew each other. (LinkedIn still works this way.) *Photo: [Alison Yin Photography](http://www.alisonyinweddings.com/)*
03ilike
Miss: iLike ----------- In the same way if you moved into your college dorm room and started blasting the music that you liked or put art up on your walls, this third-party app gave people a quick, compact idea of who you were -- or who you wanted them to think you were. A nice, compact alternative to the ubquitous "Like" button, which is more commercial and less about you. [iLike](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILike) disappeared after MySpace bought it. *Photo: [Garry Knight](http://www.flickr.com/photos/garryknight/5542163367/in/photostream/lightbox/)/Flickr*
04farmville
Good Riddance: Farmville ... ---------------------------- ... and every app request you couldn’t hide. *Photo: [Brizius](http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabrizioellena/5375347638/lightbox/)/Flickr*
05poke
Good Riddance: When the poke became throwing sheep ... ------------------------------------------------------ ... slapping, punching, and ([insert verb here](http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9727759-2.html)). *Photo: [Nikki McLeod](http://www.flickr.com/photos/mommypants/536589868/lightbox/)/Flickr*
06places
Good Riddance: Places --------------------- Where you could check in to your friends' homes and tell the world where they lived. *Photo: [Halfmoon Hiker](http://www.flickr.com/photos/14897284@N04/2186479890/lightbox/)/Flickr*
07facebook-anniversary-1
We Want: True data export ------------------------- All email addresses that you have a right to see, you should have a right to export -- plus photos, phone numbers, and your friend list -- in a meaningful format. Facebook should offer an API and let you export your social graph. If Facebook cuts you off tomorrow, you should still have access to your data. *Graphic: Ross Patton/Wired*
08facebook-anniversary-2
We Want: Personal profile analytics ----------------------------------- The option of having Google Analytics-like insight into the impact your profile is having on your friends. It might sound a little corporate, but if Facebook and advertisers have access to a lot of this data, it would be nice if we could, too. Who's looking at my photos? How many reactions have I inspired over time to my updates? How am I resonating with my social graph? Of course, one of Facebook's pleasures is voyeurism, so maybe you have the option to opt in to allow your friends to track your interactions with their stuff. *Graphic: Ross Patton/Wired*
09facebook-anniversary-3
We Want: Full text search of the whole internet ... --------------------------------------------------- ... with results ranked by which sources your friends trust and like the most. *Graphic: Ross Patton/Wired*
