Developer of “Unfollow Everything” banned on Facebook platforms
India: Mon, 11 Oct 2021 22:36, by: Staff Reporters

A Facebook developer said he has been permanently banned from the social networking site after creating a feature that allowed individuals to automatically unfollow friends and groups.

A Facebook developer said he has been permanently banned from the social networking site after creating a feature that allowed individuals to automatically unfollow friends and groups.

"Unfollow Everything," a browser plugin that allows Facebook users to virtually erase their News Feed by unfollowing all of their relationships at once, was created by Louis Barclay. Users may unfollow friends, groups, and pages individually on Facebook, which removes their material from the News Feed, Facebook's algorithmically managed heart. This procedure was mechanised by Barclay's programme, which erased users' News Feeds instantaneously.

Barclay, writing about his new plug-in in an article for Slate, wrote, “ I still remember the feeling of unfollowing everything for the first time. It was near-miraculous. I had lost nothing since I could still see my favourite friends and groups by going to them directly. But I had gained a staggering amount of control. I was no longer tempted to scroll down an infinite feed of content. The time I spent on Facebook decreased dramatically. Overnight, my Facebook addiction became manageable.”

However, the new plug-in did not go down well with Facebook. Barclay received a cease-and-desist letter from Facebook earlier this year, alleging that he had broken the site's terms of service by developing software that automated user interactions. According to Barclay, Facebook "permanently deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts" and "demanded that I commit never to build tools that interface with Facebook or its other services again." Researchers at the Swiss University of Neuchâtel utilised Barclay's "Unfollow Everything" feature to examine the impact of the News Feed on people's happiness, in addition to assisting users. He claims he didn't want to risk a legal battle with a trillion-dollar corporation like Facebook, so he just deleted the tool.

Barclay's storey comes at an inopportune moment for Facebook.  Whistleblower Frances Haugen also testified in front of Congress this week about Facebook's unquenchable need for expansion, which she claims frequently comes at the expense of users' well-being. Internal Facebook study indicates how using Instagram exacerbates bodily difficulties and mental health problems for certain teens, according to documents released by Haugen. While the main response of Facebook to Haugen's evidence has been to slander her.

Although in the case of Barclay, Facebook’s step can be justified, since facebook’s terms of service are very clear on what sort of tools users can build, and ‘Unfollow Everything’ violated this agreement.

However, the incident does effectively show Facebook's attitude to its user base, and how it frequently seeks to offer users a sense of power without allowing them to completely escape its clutches. Facebook is willing to let users unfollow individuals individually, but automating the process would make it far too simple for users to opt-out of the News Feed, which is critical for keeping users engaged and generating advertising income for the firm.

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Staff Reporters - News Desk India

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