Facebook’s newest update is making us feel weird

All the social media platforms are coming out with new features at every turn. Instagram is constantly adding new bits and pieces to everyone’s Stories, and now Facebook has a new thing out called “Discover People.” It’s still in the testing phase, so only some iOS and Android users have access to it at the moment, but it’s already resulted in some people having strong opinions about the changes.

Discover People is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a tool that connects you with people you don’t have any ties to on Facebook yet. For example, when you look through the list of upcoming events, you can also look at the profiles of people who are going to any of them. This feature also makes it easier than ever to find people on Facebook who work at the same company as you and live in the same neighborhood. Freaky, right?

When you’re using Discover People, you won’t see people you’re already friends because the goal is to obviously discover new folks you don’t already have connections with. We’re not totally sure how we feel about these changes though, because they make your profile quite vulnerable to being looked at by total strangers.

A Facebook rep wants to assure everyone that it’s not about infringing on anyone’s privacy, though. It’s all about connecting people.

“Too often, it’s hard to learn more about people around you, whether it is upon starting a new job, joining a new group, deciding if you want to attend an event, or moving to a new place,” the spokesperson said. “To make it easier, we’re starting to roll out a new bookmark in the More menu called ‘Discover People’ that can help you discover more about people you have things in common with by browsing through profile cards of people in your community.”

It sounds good in theory, we suppose. We just don’t know if we’re totally on board with it yet. Time will tell.