Facebook automatically switched everyone’s email address without asking them, demonstrating it didn’t learn enough from the public’s reaction to the previous times it changed default settings without notification.
The social network apparently assumed that everyone was eager to use the @Facebook.com email address all users are assigned. So it added the free email address to each user’s Timeline, while simultaneously hiding whatever email address the user already had there.
It’s easy enough to undo. (Just click through Account Settings in the top right corner and choose “primary email address.”)
Even so, it’s an irritating reminder of Facebook’s tendency to tell its users what’s best for them instead of asking what they want.
Related links:
Atlantic Wire – Email: Another Annoying Default Facebook Setting to Change
Beta Beat – Facebook Changes Everyone’s Email Addresses Without Their Permission
Ars Technica – Facebook forces all users over to @facebook.com e-mail addresses
Los Angeles Times – Facebook changes everyone’s listed emails to ‘@facebook.com’
VentureBeat – Facebook hawks the email address you never knew you had on your Timeline
