Dear Facebook,
I realize that I am a community manager for Voice123, but I feel like something happened between us. Have you grown out of our relationship? I never had a problem with the endless stories you used to display. I liked listening to you. I always understood what you were saying, but now everything appears on some scrolling message list of likes. Oh, and about lists…how many lists do you have me on?
To draw a comparison, if I wanted onion rings, I sure wouldn’t go to a McDonald’s and ask them to put it on the menu. You are what you are, and what you are not is Google+. They have their own social issues. This guy Steve works for them, and he likes you more. I hope you do not assume that because people say they hate being friended by people they knew when they were 9-yrs old, that it somehow means people want to be less social. I think people complain sometimes about having too many friends, and privacy, to express how important you make them feel. Facebook…it does not mean they want to change. I am at a loss here, so I gathered some voice over friends to remind you of your principles. I hope you will listen to this, and think about changing back. I know it takes work, but we will all be here for you. I do believe change is good, but only change that leads to growth.
Debbie Irwin, Jim Curtis, Julie Amato, J Michael Collins, Jan Eliot, Vonna Bowen, Doug Barron, and Tara Tyler are all now hiding out on my Facebook page for voice talent, until we figure out how to handle what you did. I barely heard anyone ever say anything bad about Facebook in the past. If that makes me part of the minority, I guess I do not know you as well as I think I do. Where has the love gone? How will we collaborate with the voice over community again, and keep you in our lives? What will I do with my farm?!
My voice over friends and I need to be poked right about now.
How have you been feeling about Facebook changes lately?
With love from a disoriented author
 |
Steven is the Community Manager of Voice123 |
Janet
October 15, 2011
Bravo! Everyone sounded great. I wish I’d done the VO myself now!
Steven Lowell
October 15, 2011
Hey Janet! No worries! We will have plenty more in the future!
Steven
Rick Lance
October 15, 2011
Oh, Man… my thoughts exactly!
I really feel I’m out of the loop with the groups I belong to.
Even though I got a lot of email associated with the group activity,at least I had a choice to read the latest post or not to. Now I have to try and keep up with that scroll of activity on the right of my page. That is AFTER I check in with FB.
I know I’m missing a lot of activity with the new changes.
PLEASE FB… go back to the old way and let us pick and choice want we’d like to read, answer or delete.
Do I hear any others say, “Yey?!”
Chris Wagner
October 16, 2011
I’m sorry, but I don’t see the big deal.
Sarah Addison
October 17, 2011
LOL. This was so good!! Nice job guys;P
Steven Lowell
October 17, 2011
Big time Yey! from me … obviously. LOL!
Stuart W.
October 18, 2011
I left FB weeks ago and don’t miss it. This is giving me flashbacks… :p
Mick Swagga
October 18, 2011
Yea who cares? how does this relate to vo? And no offense, but I’d personally appreciate it if you wouldn’t write letters on behalf of the “vo community.” Thanks!
Steven Lowell
October 18, 2011
Mick? Are muppets supposed to sound so negative? http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Mick_Swagger
LOL
Thad M
October 21, 2011
Cheers to the voices and the writing for the open letter but I have to agree with Stuart and Mick. I used to do the Facebook thing…then I closed my account because it was getting weird and silly…But then I decided, for business, it’d be a good thing…so I got back on…BUT…when I got back on, they had changed so much, I couldn’t even navigate the site. So, as a consequence, I don’t go there much anymore and I too don’t miss it. To me It’s really a just a narcissists play ground anyway. I use the LinkedIn site for now and that’s just fine.
Cheers!
Thad M
Steven Lowell
October 21, 2011
I love this!
“narcissists playground”
LOL! Awesome!
I know others may disagree or agree, but that was still a very colorful choice of words.
Milly Scott
October 22, 2011
Completely agree but I’ve heard they make more money the new way so that’s what it boils down to. Apparently they rolled out the changes in USA a few months back and had loads of complaints but still went ahead here!
Sonja Jones
October 22, 2011
Just FYI, Chrome has an app to get rid of the ticker on the right-hand side, just in case you want to get rid of it. But if you like seeing people you don’t even know liking your friend’s post, then by all means keep it!
I’m slowly getting my friends over to G+. But for now, *sigh*, I have to go back and forth.
Great job everyone on the “letter”.
Kevin
October 22, 2011
Great job on the VO’s!
BUT … the content of the letter itself … hmmm … Face Book is a private service … not a public service. The only “rights” we have are those we enter into as a contract with a private company/ person. BUT we do have the “right” to request. After all. If we don’t like it we can leave … or can we?
I agree … LinkedIn and some other services are probably better for business related social networking.
Just my thoughts!
Keep up the good work!
Jimmy
October 22, 2011
WTF? that is some incredibly poor audio quality; when you pay for facebook, then complain about ‘rights’ and what not. until then, put up or shut up. for the voices who’ve foolishly bandied in with v123 on this idiot mission about rights that simply don’t exist except in your unrealistic heads, you’ve done yourself a hideous disservice with such poorly recorded audio: i hear breaths left in that distract from the message, I hear embarrassingly over-compressed voice and worst of all, highly questionable enunciation. Thanks for letting me know is so underworked that this suicide mission made sense.
Steven Lowell
October 22, 2011
woah jimmy
settle down
Adam
October 23, 2011
Here’s a more positive muppet comment:
Thanks for all your hard work Steve!
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Adam_Behr
Steven Lowell
October 23, 2011
That’s awesome Adam! Seems like no matter what we watch … your voice over is always there! Thanks for sharing!
Brian Gold
October 23, 2011
I agree in principle, but how do you deal with groups that promote hatred? Should they also be allowed to gather members and share information about how better to hate?
If a group is overtly racist, homophobic, or promotes hatred in any way should they have the right to do so on Facebook?
What about groups of pedophiles? Rapists?
Believe me… these groups are out there, and more and more of them can be found on Facebook.
I’m torn by this. I’m am in favor of free speech and the free sharing of information… but at what cost? Is there no limit? Should there be one?
I have been fighting to close groups like this in Facebook. Opinions?
Walt Marsicano
October 24, 2011
Got to agree with those who remind us that nobody held a gun to our heads and forced us to join the fb. We did so freely and accepted their terms.
What I don’t like (and believe is the reason of your open letter, Steve) is the evolution fb has taken. While standing firm in their claim that all of their tweaking is for our betterment and pleasure, you don’t need to be a marketing ninja to see that the “improvements” made are clearly for their own data gathering purposes and revenue streams. But hey, it’s their business, They can run it the way they want to.
It’s true that sites like LinkedIn are better suited for professional networking, and if you’re not on those sites as well, you should be. But many informative groups have been born on the fb (and lots of nonsensical ones too), some of which cater to the questions we voice-talents may have from time to time. Those forums are of value to both veteran and newbie voice-over artists looking to stay atop the latest techniques, technology, and trends in the marketplace. Not to mention a plethora of answers when we have questions about our trade.
The key is to be vigilent with your privacy settings on fb. Check and recheck whenever changes are made, and don’t ever divulge anything you wish to remain private. And use fb to your advantage.