> It was around Day 9 that the most telling thing happened: Facebook noticed my absence ... I was being shown a new kind of notification: “Check out Jim’s comment on his photo” or “Jane commented on her status” as though someone else using Facebook is something I ought to be notified about. These contrived notifications were the “Emperor wears no clothes” moment for me. It became obvious then that Facebook knows its users have better things to do, and quietly hopes they don’t notice how little they get out of it.
Good observation, just saw this recently.
I hate those notifications.
I use Facebook pretty much exclusively as a way to discover and congratulate people on major life events (birthdays, weddings, babies, etc.). I use it maybe once a week, but I actually really do appreciate being notified about e.g. someone's birthday - it's a gentle reminder to catch up with that person.
The first time I got one of those generic "Jane commented on her status" notifications, I assumed something major had happened: Someone had passed away, had a major life change, etc. Of course, it wasn't that - it was something much more trivial.
The birthday notifications/etc. are useful enough that I keep the app on my phone, but the incredibly vague "so-and-so updated their status" notifications are pushing me towards finding alternatives.