<p>Today when I opened Facebook, as I do every day, at some point, at least once, I was surprised to see the social network asking me for some time and input. Generally speaking, it asks "What's on your mind?" or something similar in the status update entry field, but this was different; this was a genuine request for me to complete a survey as part of a new Facebook Feedback Panel program, and provide meaningful feedback about FB itself, and the experience of being a user.</p><p>This was weird for a number of reasons: First, it hasn't seemed all that interested in my feedback in the past, and second, it prompted me to be self-reflexive about when and why I use Facebook, and what I hope to find there. That second point is important, because it's rare that I look inward about my social media usage habits in any forum, and Facebook has been around for so much of my digital life that it's become almost invisible. Finally, the questions Facebook asked in its survey also reflect its own goals in doing the asking to begin with.Me and Facebook</p><p>The survey covered News Feed, and how I felt about it, what it provided me as a user. It was telling that I couldn't really cop to getting much use value out of the stories in my News Feed. When asked about why I felt like relevance was decreasing, I was struck by the fact that I don't really feel like I 'know' anyone on Facebook anymore. While back when I first started using the network, it seemed a great way to stay in touch with classmates with whom I might otherwise lose contact, now it seems like a catalogue of a lot of people I probably should've just lost contact with but never did.</p><p>And yet I still use FB quite regularly, if by 'use' I employ the broad definition of 'open a tab, go to facebook.com.' But as the survey revealed when it prompted reflection on my usage habits, that's happening less frequently, and it's likely tied to the decreased stream relevance. Of course, many of the social network's recent efforts have been around reinjecting some relevance into the News Feed, by bringing in things like actual news sources, public posts and more. But the detritus of old connections still makes it a net inconsequential, or at worst, net negative experience.The Ad Question</p><p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/10/facebook-feedback-panels/">Keep reading...</a></p>