There have been a lot of articles about Facebook in the news lately.
Some writers are suggesting that Facebook will be (or already is) the next big thing in the Internet world. As everyone knows, Google purchased YouTube for a massive mountain of cash. It seems likely that Facebook is attaining a similar level of attention and speculative value due to its popularity.
Of course that kind of popularity and value attracts problems as well as opportunities. The creator(s) of Facebook are currently being sued by some fellow Harvard students who claim their ideas were stolen.
There are also those associated with other prominent sites and applications that want to build a relationship with Facebook. WordPress has released some kind of plugin that allows users to connect their WordPress blogs with Facebook - though the plugin only works for WordPress.com users. This leaves me wondering if a way will be developed for other WordPress users (such as myself).
Because Facebook is getting so much attention, I registered and checked around a little. One of the interesting applications was that Facebook was able to use my Gmail contact list to look for people I already know who have Facebook accounts.
I also found that there’s a “Bloggernacle” category that’s been created within Facebook and so it was fairly easy to find and connect with the LDS bloggers who have signed themselves up as part of that group.
Many of the Facebook features remind me of LinkedIn - it seems to be a very convenient and easy way to find people you’ve known from the past - whether they attended the same high school or university, worked at the same business, lived in the same place, shared the same interest, etc. Also, if you know someone and you share the same friends, it becomes easy to add those shared contacts/friends to your own list.
I wonder though if this is the kind of site where you register, play around a bit, and then not bother going back. Or perhaps it is the kind of site that invites only occasional and casual interaction - unlike email or other applications that a person will use daily.
Note: Matt Mullenweg wrote “I’m really enjoying Pownce” so I signed up for an invite to give it a try. Now I have six more invites I can offer to others. So if you want to try it out, let me know in the comments or via email. Honestly, it just strikes me as one more social networking program.
1Dan on Jul 26, 2007 at 8:44 am:
I signed up and have not visited the site since. I never bothered to check on friends and get connections. At some point, there are just too many social networking sites for my taste.
2Tanya Spackman on Jul 26, 2007 at 9:46 am:
I consider it a place of “occasional and casual interaction”. I like it, but there isn’t that much interaction with people. Still, it’s given me a bit of contact with cousins I normally never see, and I found someone who was a very good friend in high school, and we’ve reconnected through Facebook, which has been very nice.
3danithew on Jul 26, 2007 at 10:12 am:
Tanya and Dan, I think both your thoughts on the subject make complete sense. I think this site has value in the sense that it can help to reconnect with someone you were friends with in the past - and I can see why a person might occasionally visit the site, login, do some searches for friends, etc.
On the other hand, I can see how a person could register, search around, and then never return to the site.
It will be interesting to see what comes up in the news about Facebook in the future - or if Facebook can figure out how to integrate additional useful features that would bring people back on a more continual basis.
4Dan on Jul 26, 2007 at 10:24 am:
danithew,
The same thing basically happened with my myspace account. I’ve met up with a few friends from days long past, but I really have not checked it in like two months or so. Maybe I should, I know one friend occasionally emails me there…