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What The Facebook? This is worrying.

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That’s the message I got when I didn’t want to join groups and fan pages for all of my stated interests to go with their new “Liking” policy. I simply wanted them to remain listed as words on the page, just as they had always been. But that was no longer an option. And that was when I decided it was time to seriously consider ditching my Facebook account. (I haven’t yet, but it’s getting closer every day.)

Up until now, I have been a supporter of brands using Facebook to connect with people. Now, I’m not so sure. Especially as I come across things like:

The infographics showing the evolution of Facebook’s privacy changes.

What Zynga is saying and what is happening to them due to Facebook’s policy changes.

What Jason Calacanis’ thoughts are on them, along with several others.

The fact that their mission has changed nearly every year.

The list could go on and on.

They used to be about connecting people. That was it. Plain and simple.

Now they’re about giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected?

If they were really about giving people power, then why do they keep doing things to take away people’s power to control their own data and profiles?

Facebook is no longer truly about something bigger than themselves. They are not giving people something to believe in. They pay it lip service in their public mission statement, but their actions show that they are solely about Facebook.

It all has me thinking that Facebook has lost their way, if they ever really had a direction in the first place.

It also has me thinking they’re on their way to becoming the MSN to MySpace’s Yahoo! and a new Google is lurking somewhere out there, ready to take over. (Maybe here?)

What they really seem to be on a mission to do is become their own version of the web. And since they’re so good at stealing from others, their line is already written – What you put in Facebook, stays in Facebook.

Overall, I don’t have a good feeling for the direction Facebook is heading. They seem to be focused on what’s best for their revenue stream over what’s best for the community of users they’ve built—the people who make that very revenue stream possible.

When you’ve got people sharing very personal things about themselves with their friends through your platform, that doesn’t sit well with me. And I know I’m not alone.

I’ll quit now. Mostly wanted to dump these loosely collected thoughts that have been bouncing around for the past few weeks out of my head.

Would love to know what some of you think…

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