It seems everyone is talking about Facebook at the moment in the blogosphere. I'd link to them, but it's past 10:30p, I've been working 12 hour days, going to the gym at 6:30a and I really want to watch House.
Also I've been meaning to blog this for a while so it's not my fault everyone else is talking about Facebook too this week.
Shortly after I blogged about how Facebook should open their platform, Facebook went and opened their platform. I'd like to say it was all me, except they didn't really listen to me. See I said they should share there their data, and allow people to interact with them.
They sort of did that. Except they more allowed people to extend their platform. Add onto it. But not really get under the hood. Whilst this is absolutely good, and the best way to take on MySpace (who see extending as hostile) this does bring about it's own problems. I'll get to those in a second.
They haven't allowed people to play with your data. Maybe this was partially due to the incorrect rumour about privacy and people not understanding what an API was or maybe they still see this as their value and don't want to risk it. I still see this as something FB needs to do though. I can't get my twitter status to update my facebook (and twitter has a far better interface for this) or have my last.fm attention data (my music taste) update this into my FB profile.
FB is a platform. It's a fantastic way to allow people to forge connections. Allowing people to enhance these connections with inputting value externally can only enhance the platform.
But Sevitz I hear you cry, I this not what FB has done? No they have allowed people to extend the platform. This is not the same as enhance. Whilst it does to some degree enhance the platform but allowing other developers to fill in the functional gaps, it really is a very cosmetic layer on top.
I've yet to see many 'Facebook Applications' of any more value than 'a bit of fun'. And they are not really integrated into FB as much as gaining access to FB users and not much more.
The other problem opening up their platform has done, is swamped it with an inordinate amount of crap. The facebook main page where you see updates is now layered with person after person adding applications. Whilst this is great for the app builders as it gets them visibility, it is taking away time and space all the valuable connections they is where facebooks real value is.
I don't know what the answer is. But they need to look at how they control the flow of these applications to people. Lest Facebook just becomes a portal for other peoples applications. By which time maybe Yahoo will buy them, since sometimes that is what Yahoo seems like anyway.
The thing about social networks is that the value is in the connection and I don't think their is a lot of real life in another way of poking, mooding, feeling, questioning, magic 8 balling people. Seriously, magic 8 ball?
Facebook needs to start sharing, not layering. The value is in the connection, not in the gloss. Magic 8 ball apps is gloss.
1. Matt
Yahoo aren’t going to buy Facebook, I don’t think. Especially seeing as it looks like they’re going to buy MySpace from News Corp for 25% of their stock.
Maybe Google will buy them, or God forbid, Microsoft.
But yeah, I agree in everything else you say. Facebook need to make themselves more mashable, it can only lead to better things.
2. Adrian
Yahoo! would be nuts to buy MySpace for 25%. They’d be better off closing up shop.
Facebook is a much better buy.
Google wont buy FB or MS.
3. Matt
Facebook may be a better buy for reasonable people like you and me, but when you look at the user base, Facebook about 30 million, MySpace at about a hundred and fifty million, the sums would seem to make sense, or at least they do to Yahoo. They may be nuts, but they’re still going to do it.
Oh, and I don’t really think Google or MS will buy Facebook. Or Yahoo, for that matter.
4. Adrian
When you look at the long term value, Facebook is the better buy.
And for 25% of Y!, MySpace is so exceedingly expensive, that it’ll end up doing significant damage to both companies. Whilst some peoples perceived value of MySpace is that much, it’s real world potential and value is not.
Stockmarket evaluations are based on the future earning potential. It’s just simply not possible for MySpace to produce real growth on those numbers. After a few years the analysts will come down off the Web2,0 induced high, and Y! will tank like never before, which will knock onto the whole industry.
MySpace is not worth $12 billion and anyone who pays that is partially responsible for the next crash.
5. Matt
As I said, I agree with you entirely! But apparently, Yahoo’s board do not see it that way. All they’re seeing is the quarter of a billion potential users they may have in a year or two, and if they go about it the way they did with Flickr, the hundreds of millions of users they can force to open a Yahoo account as well.
“MySpace is not worth $12 billion and anyone who pays that is partially responsible for the next crash”
That’ll be me and you blaming Yahoo for the Web 2.0 bubble bursting then. Remember when Lycos was bought for $12 billion, then sold for $95 million? It’s going to be 2000 all over again.
6. Tommy
Hey,
Two points, 1. MySpace would be worth 12 billion only if Yahoo!’s stock remained at its current value. If they keep posting results the way they are now 25% of their stock will be worth way less than that in a year and MySpace’s value may have gone up, making it a slightly less stupid deal. Though I admit not by much. 2. I completely agree that Facebook aps as they currently stand could damage the platform. People’s profiles are beginning to look very ugly and the structure of their data is getting corroded as aps provide inconsistent views on the same thing. cf. movie reviews
7. The B
Totally noticed how many people my age (including myself) have signed up to Facebook recently; basically since they opened it up.
But, a far more important question: Sevitz, do you really hate apostrophes?
;-)
8. Chris
You overlook the fact that Yahoo! appear to be institutionally insane at the moment and willing to throw more and more money at anything that they remotely believe will make them look hip and cool. So, yes, buying MySpace for 25% would be insane, but I’d be surprised if that stops them.
9. Adrian
B, I have nothing against apostrophes. I regularly abuse them.
10. The B
Or just ignore them altogether and leave them, alone and miserable, neglected..
Not sure which is worse.
11. Pete
The facebook main page where you see updates is now layered with person after person adding applications.
The feed preferences page doesn’t currently have a slider for “Application Added/Removed” - if you go to the Suggestions page then maybe we can get that changed.
12. Adrian
Whilst that would be a good start, and at least let you control the influx of “application status”, I don’t think this will solve the problem entirely.
Part of the problem is also that everyone needs to add the application to use it on their friends.
So whilst I can poke anyone, I can only “poke pro” people who both them and I have the pokepro app. This is a barrier to full and proper adoption, especially where the good apps rise to the top and the poor ones fall down.
They need to allow both deep hooks into their data (so last fm can update my music taste) as well as some way of standardising how applications utilise the UI and interact with users.
I should be more coherent on this point, but I’m insanely busy. I do kind of know what I’m saying though
13. Pete
Poke Pro is a pointless pile of ass. Personally, I’m glad that people can’t Poke Pro me unless I add the application. Especially because there are multiple applications offering “enhanced poke” facilities.
I agree that Facebook should create an API that allows applications to, with your permission, update your profile info, add photos, send friend requests etc. But I don’t think it should be possible for applications to create whole new slews of data like superpokes and uberprods.