Friday, October 30, 2009

Whither Facebook

I joined Facebook this week in order to receive some free iTunes music. Of course, EVERYBODY is already on Facebook, so in just a little while I was hooked up with about 40 friends, and have had the full Facebook experience for the last few days.


I thought that I had been missing out - that I was missing tons of fun, and that I would discover loads of long lost friends and contacts. So far, I just don't get it. Facebook seems to me to be an endless stream of 2 things - parents posting pictures of their kids, and people posting inane page updates like what they just ate, what their day has been like or this one: "I need one more Firebomb!! Does anyone have one that they can give me?" (someone playing a game called Mafia Wars).


(As an aside, can anyone tell me why it makes sense to make your profile photo a picture of your 5-year old, or your pet chihuahua?)


I'd also read in some industry journals that Facebook thinks there is much more to their business than simply hosting pictures and facilitating blog-type postings. Like competing against Google in search.


I really don't see it. Facebook isn't anything special, and unless something amazing happens in the next few weeks, I think Facebook - for me at least - will be a once-a-month check-in kind of thing.

1 comments:

Kevin said...

Facebook is mostly a waste of time until you filter out all the stupid application notices. And I hate it when people post their wedding pictures! Jeesh, the nerve! :)

It's kind of a two edged sword: you get to see what's up w/ your friends, but the interaction is mostly minimal. It's geared towards narcissism and consumerism -- two of the worst American traits.

Did you know that over 60 million people play farmville? How useless is that?

I generally check in once or twice a week, but there's rarely anything interesting.

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