Facebook is once again confirmed EVIL
An app that allows users to delete their Facebook news feed has seen its developer permanently banned from the platform.
Louis Barclay designed a browser extension, called āUnfollow Everythingā, that allowed Facebook users to unfollow all pages and friends they followed on the social media site. The result was an empty news feed, made in the hope of preventing endless scrolling and a āhealthierā relationship with the app.
However, in July, the UK developer claims he was subsequently served with a cease-and-desist letter from the social media giant and removed from both Instagram and Facebook.
Despite emptying usersā news feeds, people would still be able to connect with family and friends on Facebook by using the extension, Barclay told Insider.
In July 2020, Barclay published his extension on the Google Chrome store. It gained attention from researchers in Switzerland, from the University of NeuchĆ¢tel, intrigued by how peopleās mental wellbeing would be impacted by the lack of a news feed. The researchers wanted to see how peopleās usage and time spent on the platform was influenced by the wiping of content, and the resulting impact on peopleās happiness.
When he first unfollowed everyone for the first time, in an article posted on Slate, Barclay said it felt ānear-miraculousā.
I had lost nothing, since I could still see my favorite 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, in July 2021, Barclay tried to access his Facebook account and found it disabled. Five hours later, he reportedly received a cease-and-desist letter from Facebookās lawyers, part of which he posted online.
According to the letter, Facebookās rules on automated collection of user content had been broken by Unfollow Everything, as it did not have the companyās permission and subsequently breached its trademarks.
Upon receiving the letter from the social media giant, Barclay said he was āreally scaredā and āvery anxiousā. Furthermore, due to his development not being widespread or āhugeā, with just 2,500 weekly active users and 10,000 downloads, the letter came as a surprise to Barclay.
āApart from that I just very much saw it as something that improves the Facebook experience for Facebook users,ā he said. According to Barclay, he received āamazing feedbackā for his extension, with people commenting on how it had benefited the way they used Facebook to be āhealthierā.
Being based in the UK, Barclay decided not to challenge the letter as he couldnāt āafford [the] riskā of going up against āa trillion-dollar companyā.
Barclay had been a Facebook user for 15 years prior to being banned, which he viewed a āreally horribleā and āunfairā.
Iāve been trying to reduce my usage of Facebook for years now, including by making tools like Unfollow Everything. So Iām actually pretty grateful to Facebook that theyāve helped me take my addiction levels down to a flat zero.
Barclay concluded that he is āstill searching for other ways to help people use Facebook lessā and called the company āanti-consumerā, rather than āanti-competitiveā.
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