Facebook has a new feature called Friendship Pages -- creepy to some, cool to others -- which lets users look at the history of a friendship between two people. Some are disturbed by the stalker-esque quality of the feature in its giving you an easy peek into the lives of two friends.
I'm just disturbed by how hard it is to get to the really good, creepy stuff. Facebook has designed the feature in such a way that it's difficult to see Friendship Pages unless you're friends with both of the people whose friendship history you want to peruse.
It's very easy to bring up Friendship Pages for two friends, or for you and a friend, but it takes some extra work to bring a non-friend into the mix. The "View You and X" link that brings up a Friendship page only appears under the profile pics on the pages of your friends. Once you get to the "See Friendship" page, it only lets you enter friends' names into the browsing tool. Perhaps this is a nod to those discomfited by the feature.
So what if you're actually wanting to employ the stalker-like aspect of this tool, say by checking out the history between your ex and that Facebook user of the opposite sex who keeps writing on his or her wall? You've got to plug in the url manually to see the Friendship Page between a friend and a non-friend. Perhaps this is privacy provided through difficulty of use. Asking people to type in a url these days is almost like asking them to do html coding to make a status update.
That url is: http://www.facebook.com/[User ID or Username #1]?and=[User ID or Username #2]
Nick O'Neill at InsideFacebook helpfully offers up a sample page for him and his sister: http://www.facebook.com/NickOneill?and=maoneill. Though you won't be able to see that page unless you're friends with one of them.
Despite the uproar, there is little in the way of true privacy concerns with the feature. To look at a Friendship Page, you either have to be one of the subjects or friends with one of the subjects. If a non-friend has their privacy settings set very high, you likely won't be able to see the page at all. Additionally, the information that shows up there is limited to what's "public" as dictated by the users' privacy settings. Facebook has just found a new way to present it.
The privacy features of this tool are quite nuanced. In the old days, I think Facebook would have let you pull up Friendship Pages for anyone, regardless of your friendship with them -- the argument being that it only pulls up public information. All the rules governing the use of this feature should make it more palatable to the privacy-conscious. But I must admit: the lack of invasiveness makes it a lot less fun to use.
