One of the biggest challenges social networking sites face is retaining users. While Facebook seems to be doing just fine with its roughly 250 million current members, the site has a pretty sly trick up its sleeve for those considering deactivating their account. If you head to the deactivation page, you'll be shown five photos of your friends with a message saying they'll miss you. The page also notes how many friends you have and how they'll no longer be able to keep in touch with you, as well as providing a direct link to send a message to your displayed friends.
While I have no plans of deactivating my own account, I hit up the page to see which of my friends appeared in the photos. Surprisingly, every photo was of me with a friend. It's likely the algorithm first chooses photos that have both you and your friends in them to deepen the emotional connection. Sneaky. I have to admit, tugging at the good ole heart strings to keep me on the site is clever, and damned if I didn't feel a pang of guilt when their sad eyes stared accusingly at me for trying to leave.
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