💬 Facebook Notifications (HEWN, No. 295)
I’ve been off of social media for a week now. I don’t know if other people have noticed my absence, but the platforms sure have. Facebook now sends me daily emails, trying to lure me to log back in with vague references to what I’ve missed. One message. Nineteen notifications. Four mentions. Facebook wants me to know that Tommy has uploaded a photo, confident I suppose, that I need to use Facebook to see how his very first trip to the UK is going. (I don’t.) Facebook wants me to know that Tressie has commented on Tim’s status update. I haven’t talked to Tim in a while, and Tressie has a book coming out soon. I should email both of them. Thanks for the nudge, Facebook, but I won’t sign in.
The way in which platforms like Facebook and Pinterest send notifications is really annoying. Turning them off is even more frustrating. However, what disappoints me is why platforms whose model is subscription based continue with this trend. If there is a need to send a notification, especially by email, then why can’t it include all the information I need to know? For example, with Compass schools are able to notify users of update and/or information, but this then requires the user to log in and then click on the notification in order to find out something menial such as ‘sausage sizzle on tomorrow’