Facebook has today released an updated version of its popular iOS app. Version 3.4 of the app gives you a host of new features, the most notable one allowing you to ‘unfriend’ people directly from your iPhone. As well as facilitating an easier way to get rid of people who are surplus to requirements, the updated app also features a new map view for places, the ability to check in to Events that you’re attending, an improved News Feed, and an improved notifications UI.
So with this sudden power of friendship or culling now in the palm of most people’s hands, will we see a surge in the amount of seemingly random broken connections on Facebook? I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve checked my News Feed to see a shock revelation from a friend about their sexuality or feelings for someone, only to scroll up and see a counter-comment along the lines of “[user] should not leave my iPhone unattended!! I’ll get you back for this [name of hilarious friend]!!”. Why should the world of practical jokes stop with the immediate and obvious? Often the funniest jokes are the ones it takes the victim a long time to realise have occurred. I’ll admit, whilst living with three other equally mischievous characters at university, if you left your Facebook logged in then literally anything was fair game; and we all gave as good as we got. Adding or deleting people as friends was merely the tip of the iceberg.
But it just goes to reinforce the point that if someone runs amok with your digital life, it’s always good to have a backup solution somewhere so you can set things straight once you realise you’ve been had.