I will openly admit, when Facebook.com initiated the "New Facebook" features earlier this month including the ever-controversial "News Feed," I was one of the few who liked the feature and joined (and created) groups supporting the move. It was an interesting new feature that would save its users the time of having to check your friend's profile to see what was new with them. However, the even-more recent moves by Facebook have led me to question the direction of the network.

MyFacebook.com?

The original plan for Facebook, when it first started, was to be a social networking site for college students. This feature was what made the site highly popular in the first place as it was separate from the general public, including high schoolers and parents as well as those oh-so-wonderful stalkers that have been connected with the openness associated with rival site MySpace.com. Oh, if things could only have stayed that way.

After a while, the pool of college-only students was deemed not large enough by those who run the site and Facebook opened its doors to high school students. This move mostly likely came after the news that the world's most visited webpage, MySpace.com, was purchased by FOXNEWS head Rupert Murdoch for $580 million and those who run Facebook, namely founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg saw dollar signs in his eyes. The more people who visit Facebook, the more Benjamin’s will fill his pockets from advertisers that make MySpace such an annoying but such a profitable enterprise. Remember that concept - more people, more moolah.

Months later, "New Facebook" was introduced to the users and almost overnight, it became a highly controversial issue. Students complained that it made the website was suddenly "too stalkerish" despite still being made up by college students, high school students and a few members of faculty in those two groups. The non-existent privacy options that came with the NewsFeed prompted the formation of numerous groups that demanded the feature removed or revamped to allow better privacy for its users. A few days later, Facebook folded, posting a public apology on its users' Home page and on the company's blog.

Apparently the new changes were not enough for Zuckerberg to sit down and see how things unfold with his network. According to a report posted on Forbes.com yesterday, Facebook wants to throw open the doors all the way so that anyone with an email address can create a profile.

That's right, dear readers - Facebook.com wants to become just like MySpace.com so that every regular Tom and Mark can drop by your page and see what is going on with your life. Privacy, meet trash can.

Little-known "Facebook Development Platform"

At least the general public is being informed of the changes to the website when they occur. We were informed when Facebook expanded to include high schoolers, we were informed when the "New Facebook" was created and we were also informed when Facebook planned to expand its usership to everyone who can breathe and access the Internet.

But an even more sinister invasion of privacy is going on right now at Facebook.com and very few of its members are actually aware that it is going on.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the "Facebook Development Platform." Never heard of it? I must say, I am not surprised. Here is the description of Facebook site information from the platform: