Why Does Facebook Want to Suck the Fun Out of Unfriending?

[NathanKP]

I see it as nothing more than an expression of the transitory and meaningless nature of most online relationships. Facebook is simply afraid of losing user base because the automated tools make it so easy to leave.

In Facebook's defense I must say that any web service or startup would probably complain if another service made it easy for users to destroy their account, especially if the content associated with the account was an indexable source of traffic, and destroying the account (unfriending) would possibly hurt other users.

[ugh]

How is that a defense? “Others would also suck“ is not a good argument to make.

Any web service should give the user full control of their data. Leaving should be easy, not hard. (And it is hard. I seem to only ever use the help pages of web services when I want to leave.)

[philh]

It sounds like seppukoo does in fact spam all your friends. I'd be a lot more sympathetic to them if that weren't the case.

[numair]

Yes, because "I quit being a database entry and started being a human again" is far more spammy than "please help me tend to my virtual farm."

/sarcasm

[ShabbyDoo]

I recall the grassroots "Delete your MySpace Day" from a few years ago. While it is likely that relatively few people actually deleted their accounts, the meme distributed the implicit message that MySpace might not be cool anymore. Since then, we've seen many articles about how it has become an online ghetto of sorts. Although Facebook is clearly more entrenched and better in so many ways than MySpace, it must be scared of such a backlash. Perhaps they are using C&D letters to quell such grassroots uprisings?

[toadstone]

it just doesn't want people giving their facebook logins out

[branden]

Yet they'll ask for your email password to take a look at your contacts.

Doubtful, and hypocritical if true.

[mattdennewitz]

i feel a bit of unabashed satisfaction in unfriending, if only because of the addition by subtraction.

[norova]

Tasteless and a tiny bit offensive, but definitely not worthy of a C&D, in my opinion.

[gaius]

Facebook explicitly stated that they will never inform people if you unfriend someone, this app does an end-run around that, of course they're going to disallow it.