Yup, just checked for the first time in days and had an invition to something called "daily lotto", "warbook" and a whole slew of other useless applications.
Unofrtunately I make money by being productive not by clocking up time so Facebook is not for me. Still preferring Linkedin by far...
I deactivated my account a few weeks ago. Haven't missed in the least. On the contrary I'm damn thankful to have rescued a few more minutes for every day.
@topgold I can't recall which was the final bac'n that broke this camel's back because everything became a blur towards the end. I was and still am intrigued by the notion of a 'Social Operating System' and believe one/it will be very useful at some point in the future. Just not right now.
Facebook is what you make it. If one insist on installing crappy apps then it they can only blame themselves. That's the whole philosophy - you just plug and play what you want. The root issue is that there's too much apps to syphon through, and by the time we find the really interesting ones, some new hot web trend will have taken over. But that won't be for a very long time.
Yes indeed I hated Tamgochis!
However just because I do not see the personal value in facebook does that mean that I have to keep quiet about it?
Anyway, it is my opinion that the real value of Facebook is being wasted by the stooopid applications. I do not need to install them but I do receive all the invitiation to do so...
I think Hyves.nl has done it much better. Plenty of applications but no invitations...
Facebook is nothing like Tamagochis. Having Twitter and Jaiku feed directly in to your phone giving you a gadget which demands attention.. THAT's a tamagochi. Nowever news is more important than "feed me". Facebook is useful as a way to get in contact with someone who's e-mail you've lost... until you set up a LinkedIn a/c. Oh and finding out people's birthdays (Hi Ruari).
@evertb I'm not trying to silence you, Evert.. :) Stoopid applications? Just don't install them. Anyway, it's your friends that are sending them to you... Facebook is defined by the apps you install and your circle of friends. Have a chat with your friends or post to your profile saying you don't want dumb invites.
Don't blame the platform. It's a blank canvas. It just reflects whatever you and your buddies do. The blame should lie there. Your complaining about the technology is misguided, imho. Of course, in just the same way as you can voice your dislike of Facebook, I can voice my opinion that I find it useful.
facebook, seems like a good idea. But the problem is all this advertising. I mean, if the user gets some % of the clicks, then I guess fair enough. SInce FB gets the revenue of the "social" ads..blah blah..what incentive does the user have to accept these ads? I think its pretty big of FB to expect users to take this without being able to turn it off.
How does one get rid of friend transmitted ads? Do you have to remove the friend also?
Maybe the new age user gets it, but I don't. Linked-In has been alot more useful. actual financial value also.
Apparently Monsieur Calacanis thinks that every person in your "network" is worth $3 to you. Dunno about that..
@pat: re: Plaxo: so you're not insuled I didn't accept your sign-up request? :)
@runningwithbulls Monetisation of social networks is the way of the future whether we like it or not.. Our searches are already being monetise, so why should social networking be any different?
Bernard, should me an example of a model where a large, transcontinental social network can be operated without dollar signs. Pay for play won't work, so that pushes advertising as revenue inlet. This small Jaiku community that we have is inhabited by quite a few enterpreneurs, who are here to make a buck... So no matter what social network you belong to operated by a private venture, you represent a value unit. A dollar sum. Be it for preening for VCs or as a revenue generation machine. There it is. To say anything else, is frankly missing the point.
LinkedIn has real value. I agree. I have found myself being contacted by some interesting people too. But don't discount the value of Facebook as a genuine shop-stall for your identity. It's just that many users don't make full use out of it. They prefer to add vampire apps, then use it as a valuable networking tool. Anyway, as Damien wrote on Sunday, Irish people are generally woeful at human-to-human networking. Look at the way that some of the SV folks use their profiles. It's a calling card for business, as well as a stake in the ground for informal social posting. If we could garner some of the skills that these real networkers use in promo-ing their fares, then perhaps we could get more value from the Facebook platform. Just my 2 cents.
as far as i'm concerned the minute they opened it up to people not in universities screwed the whole thing up. then when the platform came out i just lost all interest. i went from spending hours at a time on facebook to hating the system completely.
@constantine Sounds like you didn't like the whiff of common people.. You enjoyed the exclusivity a bit too much. Why should the wider use of FB really make a difference to you? It doesn't change your circle of friends one bit. Also sounds like discrimation against folks that aren't early adopters...
I like Facebook better than Myspace, but I don't spend nearly as much time in it as I used to. Mainly for me it was the apps. I very rarely accept any of the dozens of invitations to use any of the apps.
@alexia: with regards social networks having to use advertising: agree 100%. I have no problem with that. They have to make a buck, and if you don't like it, as you said, leave.
I don't have a FB a/c, so I am making assumptions: please correct me if I have it wrong.
I understand the idea of using ads from "friends", but what "benefit" do I as a user get? Not much (in regards the FB implementation).
With regards Linked-In, I don't know it seems to work on the premis that I want to connect to other people who are "useful" - business, contacts, whatever.
You are probably right that FB users dont use it for the "correct" purpose. That is probably a good assumption (again, I have no first-hand idea).
For me (personally) I use Linked-In for networking..maybe contacts for work, and also personal, but moreso for work.
If I want to make personal contacts, I will use something like Jaiku..ok not a social networking tool, but its main purpose is to make people "talk".
For me, Linked-In and Jaiku gives me a better "turn-off button", where I can choose what/who I want to receive.
FB seems (assumption) to be you get me, you get my friends (and all the other stuff they have).
I tried to use Facebook as a substitute to Netvibes but failed. Now I use both, Netvibes heavily and Facebook sparingly. It gives me a good glimpse of all my activities in one place - like twitter, pownce, jaiku, shelfari, delicious, magnolia, flickr, zoho, MOSH...there are too many to list. I also read comics directly from my Facebook page. I don't use it much for networking with others and the only crappy app that I have installed in it is Blabbr ;)
'Ads' from friends? I'm confused by what you mean here? I've encountered no such ads..
Well, Jaiku is a social network tool. Just like IRC or even the classic example, a blog. Why a blog? Well, it facilitates comments and feedback. Any centre of conversation that we cling onto, is a social network..
A better turn-off button? Better than what? If you don't use Facebook, then I don't see a fair comparison..
It indeed all depends on what you want out of it. That's why a wino will be happy with a bottle of white spirits while I prefer a nice single malt ;-)
Anywya, for my needs the targeted search on Linkedin where I get to see the users full profile is far more productive than the limited serach results on FB. I want to make new contacts NOT renew old ones...
Know what made MySpace into a steaming pile of shit? When you logged on one day and you had friend invites from companies, products and family members. Look what is happening to FaceBook.
@Evertb Again, you give an assumption how people use FB. You may be meeting old friends, but I have met some useful contacts through FB. Are you a glass half-empty kind of guy?
@lexia You seem to be missing my use of the word "my" in my replies. I am giving you my opinion and experience. Not anyone else's. If you don't like it you are free to say so (and you have). However do not tell me that I am wrong in my experience. It is user feedback not common denominator feedback.
yes, I am a "glass half-empty kind of guy". I already drank the other half.
I prefer Facebook over Myspace, but it's still somewhat annoying just because every moron out there that adds an application just HAS to send me an invite for it too. The worst are those Wall apps. "So and so has added to your Superwall!" Well, that should be impossible since I don't HAVE Superwall to begin with!
why do you add them as your friend in the first place ;) and what is stopping you from un-friending them now :D While installing my first 'fun' application Blabbr, I was completely surprised to see that all my contacts were selected by default and the app was ready to send them all a message about itself. what if I had clicked next in my half-sleeping state?! I managed to find the skip button in time but the warning should have been more pronounced(in blood-red colour? ;) ).
@evertb Evert, you opened the topic by complaining about a product and asking for peoples' opinions.. You've dug your trenches and attacked FB citing your own opinion, while looking for like-minded friends to join you.. Sounds like an organised assault to me. Your use of "my", in my own opinion, is twofold. First, to give your experiences and second to hustle up a posse.
Every position we take in this world of discursive intercourse, is informed by our opinions and experiences. While you are more than within your rights to express you opinions (without resorting to defemation), I'm within similar rights to rebuff. Saying that your experiences inform you then is a given. I don't see why you ought to be bringing this up in the first place. Makes no sense.
And you can't shut down contrarian views from being expressed by simplying saying, "Ugh, that's just my opinion".
Again and again, you miss the point that I have made. Facebook reflects your circle of contacts. Take them away from Facebook and you have a vacuum. Pure and simple. People are the glue that binds Facebook, as they are the root of those annoying app invites. They represent good value comms and unwanted bac'n. You choose the noise levels, and if the value proposition of having a profile meets your expectations. Perhaps your FB friends need an education in FB etiquette...
that is the thing. when facebook was purely for college folks we used it to limit the conversation to what college folks talk about: how shitty our classes are, the random girl we slept with over the weekend and how many shots of (insert name of drink) we had at the party on thursday.
friendships were spawned with people on campus who had like minded interests. help was sought after in classes that proved difficult. the only people allowed to join facebook were those with a .edu email address. the only people who you could browse were people at your university.
it was absolutely brilliant.
then the old people came along. hey what is this facebook thing? honey we should make an account and see what our pumpkin is doing. hey i should tell bob at work about this! maybe we can use it to keep in touch!
then the bombshell that was applications dropped. hey i have an idea, lets make money off these peoples each and every social interaction!
is there some kind of prejudice because i was on facebook probably before everyone in this chat? yes. do i feel it is justified? absolutely. the last thing facebook needed was creepy old people and companies asking for friend invites. what was a small and privileged network of people you could say "hey, meet me at Adams library tomorrow at 5?" turned into a bullshit platform where application developers are trying to get users for widgets that produce 0 income.
why do people automatically assume that everyone wants one social network to rule them all? i hate this assumption. you know why people would like to create one social network to rule them all, right?
it is much easier for a company to advertise on one mega network then for them to spread amongst the tiny communities on the net. google's open social isn't about anything but figuring out a way to increase their revenues due to adsense which currently stands at about 1/3 of their profits.
one social network to rule them all is for one ad platform to rule them all.
About facebook ads. Would pigsback.com with a social network work? The adverts are either time wasting aps (crosswords, word search) with prizes or coupons.
Of course a $1,000 dollar off coupon for target would be useless for me as I'm outside the US, however swapping / giving coupons to the friends on your network...
So how about highly localised coupon adverts which can be swapped like trading cards?
Can a facebook API work on a non-facebook site so you can have a coupon on FabeBook be used on your shopping cart? Or is that the killer advertising app for OpenSocial?
yea and so what? all the people i want to keep a track of are creepy old people too. before facebook it was friendster and before that we all had geocities accounts. whoever thinks facebook will last 1000 years is seriously mistaking it for what it truly is, just a fad.
> Geocities... those were the days.
Now I feel old - only someone still in their 20's could feel nostalgia for geocities. eWorld - now that was a social network ;-)
why are you comparing a microblogging service to a full blown social networking site is beyond me, but when it comes to privacy then yes anyone is able to google me and read my wild banter that is often littered with sexual innuendo and gadget fetishism. jaiku still has the same problem, people who i don't know follow me and every once in a while i find people commenting in my conversations who i don't like so i will delete their comments. nothing is perfect sadly.
At one point I was visiting Facebook every couple of days and using it to send messages to friends I hadn't spoken to for ages. Now, with all the apps being annoying I go on maybe once a week to check if anyone I know has added me, and if anyone wants to contact me I get them onto MSN.
so many people being annoyed by the applications with no control over which ones are getting added to their profiles...it seems that the Matrix is going to win in the end after all ;)
wow. I've not been very FB-active lately and "rescued some minutes" as @EirePreneur puts it. I haven't been in Jaiku much either and by the looks of this thread its really flying at the moment.
@tabrez. It's not too bad, you can go onto the app's page and 'block application', I just wish there was a way to block all applications which are in certain categories, or even just block all application invites.
At least through blocking applications I'm now free of the constant Vampire and Pirates invites.
@eam0, I find it hard to find time to check Jaiku often too. It's hard to keep up-to-date if you follow more than about 5 active people... Messages are off the bottom of the homepage before you've seen them.
@dsample: that is the thing about Jaiku, it is passive intimacy. i don't care what my friends are doing 24/7, but when i have some down time i'll open up Jaiku and see what folks are up to. admittingly i do hate those people who live on jaiku all day and have since unsubscribed from them.
You can make money and find potential in almost every single product and service that exists. Saying Facebook isn't productive is like saying a typewriter isn't productive. JK Rowling made a handsome sum from a typewriter while the Unabomber was a whiney little tosser. It's a business tool if you make it one. Obviously you've found a much easier and better way to make money. Good for you. I'm happy with the money that I make from Facebook though while also having fun with my friends.
@DamienMulley: True, however some tools are better for the job at hans than others. Unfortunately my time is limited so I can't use all tools. However because Facebook showed lots of potential and i did use it a lot I was wondering if me shifting away from it was just due to me or if others were of tthe same opinion.
Merely because it's such a timesink, Facebook will survive on the backs of followers who have joined posses. But when the posses find another hang-out, the survival prospects may change. There will never be a single socnet and people choose their degrees of immersion based on networks and opportunity costs.
@sxoop At the BIMA thing yesterday I was *very tempted to do a pyramid scheme type talk. "If you sign up to my Making Money Course, not only will you get the two cds, you will also get a bonus cd with information on how to make money from email"
@DamienMulley I don't know about the main video but the suggested videos in the right sidebar surely seem to be interesting ;) http://tinyurl.com/34jxoj
93 comments so far
I kind of lost my interest... only opening it when I get a mail in my inbox!
2 years ago by coniecto
Yup, just checked for the first time in days and had an invition to something called "daily lotto", "warbook" and a whole slew of other useless applications. Unofrtunately I make money by being productive not by clocking up time so Facebook is not for me. Still preferring Linkedin by far...
2 years ago by Evertb
I deactivated my account a few weeks ago. Haven't missed in the least. On the contrary I'm damn thankful to have rescued a few more minutes for every day.
2 years ago by EirePreneur
I was never particularly enamoured with it. I can't understand why so many people think it's so "wonderful"
2 years ago by mneylon
Gave up on it, crock of shite, cant understand the value of it whatsoever and don't get me started on Plaxo
2 years ago by PatPhelan
admit it, James--my vampire slayed you and that pushed you over the edge of Facebook.
2 years ago by topgold
The whole value proposition was completely diluted by "rubbish" apps. It'll be interesting to see how they combat this side effect.
2 years ago by MarcusMacInnes
@topgold I can't recall which was the final bac'n that broke this camel's back because everything became a blur towards the end. I was and still am intrigued by the notion of a 'Social Operating System' and believe one/it will be very useful at some point in the future. Just not right now.
2 years ago by EirePreneur
I keep thinking I'm missing some key part as I've never been impressed by it. Far too much crap bouncing around.
2 years ago by dbannon
Facebook is what you make it. If one insist on installing crappy apps then it they can only blame themselves. That's the whole philosophy - you just plug and play what you want. The root issue is that there's too much apps to syphon through, and by the time we find the really interesting ones, some new hot web trend will have taken over. But that won't be for a very long time.
Personally, I like it. I use it frivolously.
2 years ago by lexia
Let's face it; Facebook is an online Tamagochi....
2 years ago by Evertb
http://www.pjentrepreneur.com/2007/11/11/facebook-shows-dumb-ads/
2 years ago by Evertb
Evert. Don't be so glib. You didn't like Tamagochis, did you? :) If someone doesn't like FB, then they can close their accounts up like James did..
2 years ago by lexia
Yes indeed I hated Tamgochis! However just because I do not see the personal value in facebook does that mean that I have to keep quiet about it? Anyway, it is my opinion that the real value of Facebook is being wasted by the stooopid applications. I do not need to install them but I do receive all the invitiation to do so... I think Hyves.nl has done it much better. Plenty of applications but no invitations...
2 years ago by Evertb
Facebook is nothing like Tamagochis. Having Twitter and Jaiku feed directly in to your phone giving you a gadget which demands attention.. THAT's a tamagochi. Nowever news is more important than "feed me". Facebook is useful as a way to get in contact with someone who's e-mail you've lost... until you set up a LinkedIn a/c. Oh and finding out people's birthdays (Hi Ruari).
2 years ago by WillKnott
@evertb I'm not trying to silence you, Evert.. :) Stoopid applications? Just don't install them. Anyway, it's your friends that are sending them to you... Facebook is defined by the apps you install and your circle of friends. Have a chat with your friends or post to your profile saying you don't want dumb invites.
Don't blame the platform. It's a blank canvas. It just reflects whatever you and your buddies do. The blame should lie there. Your complaining about the technology is misguided, imho. Of course, in just the same way as you can voice your dislike of Facebook, I can voice my opinion that I find it useful.
2 years ago by lexia
facebook, seems like a good idea. But the problem is all this advertising. I mean, if the user gets some % of the clicks, then I guess fair enough. SInce FB gets the revenue of the "social" ads..blah blah..what incentive does the user have to accept these ads? I think its pretty big of FB to expect users to take this without being able to turn it off.
How does one get rid of friend transmitted ads? Do you have to remove the friend also?
Maybe the new age user gets it, but I don't. Linked-In has been alot more useful. actual financial value also.
Apparently Monsieur Calacanis thinks that every person in your "network" is worth $3 to you. Dunno about that..
@pat: re: Plaxo: so you're not insuled I didn't accept your sign-up request? :)
2 years ago by runningwithbulls
@PatPhelan what is plaxo ? I seem to recall you recommending it a few weeks ago ? I got invites from yourself and ken mcguire.
2 years ago by sxoop
@runningwithbulls Monetisation of social networks is the way of the future whether we like it or not.. Our searches are already being monetise, so why should social networking be any different?
Bernard, should me an example of a model where a large, transcontinental social network can be operated without dollar signs. Pay for play won't work, so that pushes advertising as revenue inlet. This small Jaiku community that we have is inhabited by quite a few enterpreneurs, who are here to make a buck... So no matter what social network you belong to operated by a private venture, you represent a value unit. A dollar sum. Be it for preening for VCs or as a revenue generation machine. There it is. To say anything else, is frankly missing the point.
LinkedIn has real value. I agree. I have found myself being contacted by some interesting people too. But don't discount the value of Facebook as a genuine shop-stall for your identity. It's just that many users don't make full use out of it. They prefer to add vampire apps, then use it as a valuable networking tool. Anyway, as Damien wrote on Sunday, Irish people are generally woeful at human-to-human networking. Look at the way that some of the SV folks use their profiles. It's a calling card for business, as well as a stake in the ground for informal social posting. If we could garner some of the skills that these real networkers use in promo-ing their fares, then perhaps we could get more value from the Facebook platform. Just my 2 cents.
2 years ago by lexia
as far as i'm concerned the minute they opened it up to people not in universities screwed the whole thing up. then when the platform came out i just lost all interest. i went from spending hours at a time on facebook to hating the system completely.
2 years ago by constantine
@constantine Sounds like you didn't like the whiff of common people.. You enjoyed the exclusivity a bit too much. Why should the wider use of FB really make a difference to you? It doesn't change your circle of friends one bit. Also sounds like discrimation against folks that aren't early adopters...
2 years ago by lexia
I like Facebook better than Myspace, but I don't spend nearly as much time in it as I used to. Mainly for me it was the apps. I very rarely accept any of the dozens of invitations to use any of the apps.
2 years ago by rcadden
@alexia: with regards social networks having to use advertising: agree 100%. I have no problem with that. They have to make a buck, and if you don't like it, as you said, leave.
I don't have a FB a/c, so I am making assumptions: please correct me if I have it wrong.
I understand the idea of using ads from "friends", but what "benefit" do I as a user get? Not much (in regards the FB implementation).
With regards Linked-In, I don't know it seems to work on the premis that I want to connect to other people who are "useful" - business, contacts, whatever.
You are probably right that FB users dont use it for the "correct" purpose. That is probably a good assumption (again, I have no first-hand idea).
For me (personally) I use Linked-In for networking..maybe contacts for work, and also personal, but moreso for work.
If I want to make personal contacts, I will use something like Jaiku..ok not a social networking tool, but its main purpose is to make people "talk".
For me, Linked-In and Jaiku gives me a better "turn-off button", where I can choose what/who I want to receive.
FB seems (assumption) to be you get me, you get my friends (and all the other stuff they have).
If thats wrong please, correct me.
2 years ago by runningwithbulls
@alexia: btw, I like that we agree on something :)
2 years ago by runningwithbulls
@stefan: I know we spoke about this in Helsinki in the meetku, and I guess I can agree with you, to a point.
When the "net" is cast too wide, I guess it dilutes the usage/usability of it.
I don't think Stefan means discrimination (although after meeting him, maybe so :P )..
2 years ago by runningwithbulls
I tried to use Facebook as a substitute to Netvibes but failed. Now I use both, Netvibes heavily and Facebook sparingly. It gives me a good glimpse of all my activities in one place - like twitter, pownce, jaiku, shelfari, delicious, magnolia, flickr, zoho, MOSH...there are too many to list. I also read comics directly from my Facebook page. I don't use it much for networking with others and the only crappy app that I have installed in it is Blabbr ;)
2 years ago by tabrez
'Ads' from friends? I'm confused by what you mean here? I've encountered no such ads..
Well, Jaiku is a social network tool. Just like IRC or even the classic example, a blog. Why a blog? Well, it facilitates comments and feedback. Any centre of conversation that we cling onto, is a social network..
A better turn-off button? Better than what? If you don't use Facebook, then I don't see a fair comparison..
2 years ago by lexia
It indeed all depends on what you want out of it. That's why a wino will be happy with a bottle of white spirits while I prefer a nice single malt ;-) Anywya, for my needs the targeted search on Linkedin where I get to see the users full profile is far more productive than the limited serach results on FB. I want to make new contacts NOT renew old ones...
2 years ago by Evertb
@runningwithbulls Last one was for you btw... And I agree with lots of people.. :)
2 years ago by lexia
Know what made MySpace into a steaming pile of shit? When you logged on one day and you had friend invites from companies, products and family members. Look what is happening to FaceBook.
2 years ago by constantine
Hence my lack of interest in either one. So far I'll stick with LinkedIn; it's purely professional.
2 years ago by Texrat
@Evertb Again, you give an assumption how people use FB. You may be meeting old friends, but I have met some useful contacts through FB. Are you a glass half-empty kind of guy?
Anyways - back to work.. I'll drop later
2 years ago by lexia
@lexia You seem to be missing my use of the word "my" in my replies. I am giving you my opinion and experience. Not anyone else's. If you don't like it you are free to say so (and you have). However do not tell me that I am wrong in my experience. It is user feedback not common denominator feedback. yes, I am a "glass half-empty kind of guy". I already drank the other half.
2 years ago by Evertb
At least Facebook has @lexia for a defense! It would be a shame if the convo was all one-sided. : p
2 years ago by Texrat
I am in the defence of Facebook too. my Internet experience is better with Facebook's existence than it would be without it.
2 years ago by tabrez
I prefer Facebook over Myspace, but it's still somewhat annoying just because every moron out there that adds an application just HAS to send me an invite for it too. The worst are those Wall apps. "So and so has added to your Superwall!" Well, that should be impossible since I don't HAVE Superwall to begin with!
2 years ago by zerojay
why do you add them as your friend in the first place ;) and what is stopping you from un-friending them now :D While installing my first 'fun' application Blabbr, I was completely surprised to see that all my contacts were selected by default and the app was ready to send them all a message about itself. what if I had clicked next in my half-sleeping state?! I managed to find the skip button in time but the warning should have been more pronounced(in blood-red colour? ;) ).
2 years ago by tabrez
Because they're actual friends. ;)
2 years ago by zerojay
@evertb Evert, you opened the topic by complaining about a product and asking for peoples' opinions.. You've dug your trenches and attacked FB citing your own opinion, while looking for like-minded friends to join you.. Sounds like an organised assault to me. Your use of "my", in my own opinion, is twofold. First, to give your experiences and second to hustle up a posse.
Every position we take in this world of discursive intercourse, is informed by our opinions and experiences. While you are more than within your rights to express you opinions (without resorting to defemation), I'm within similar rights to rebuff. Saying that your experiences inform you then is a given. I don't see why you ought to be bringing this up in the first place. Makes no sense.
And you can't shut down contrarian views from being expressed by simplying saying, "Ugh, that's just my opinion".
Again and again, you miss the point that I have made. Facebook reflects your circle of contacts. Take them away from Facebook and you have a vacuum. Pure and simple. People are the glue that binds Facebook, as they are the root of those annoying app invites. They represent good value comms and unwanted bac'n. You choose the noise levels, and if the value proposition of having a profile meets your expectations. Perhaps your FB friends need an education in FB etiquette...
2 years ago by lexia
@constantine : invites from family members not appreciated ? That's odd.
2 years ago by sxoop
@sxoop Yeah I was going to say that too :)
2 years ago by lexia
that is the thing. when facebook was purely for college folks we used it to limit the conversation to what college folks talk about: how shitty our classes are, the random girl we slept with over the weekend and how many shots of (insert name of drink) we had at the party on thursday.
friendships were spawned with people on campus who had like minded interests. help was sought after in classes that proved difficult. the only people allowed to join facebook were those with a .edu email address. the only people who you could browse were people at your university.
it was absolutely brilliant.
then the old people came along. hey what is this facebook thing? honey we should make an account and see what our pumpkin is doing. hey i should tell bob at work about this! maybe we can use it to keep in touch!
then the bombshell that was applications dropped. hey i have an idea, lets make money off these peoples each and every social interaction!
is there some kind of prejudice because i was on facebook probably before everyone in this chat? yes. do i feel it is justified? absolutely. the last thing facebook needed was creepy old people and companies asking for friend invites. what was a small and privileged network of people you could say "hey, meet me at Adams library tomorrow at 5?" turned into a bullshit platform where application developers are trying to get users for widgets that produce 0 income.
why do people automatically assume that everyone wants one social network to rule them all? i hate this assumption. you know why people would like to create one social network to rule them all, right?
it is much easier for a company to advertise on one mega network then for them to spread amongst the tiny communities on the net. google's open social isn't about anything but figuring out a way to increase their revenues due to adsense which currently stands at about 1/3 of their profits.
one social network to rule them all is for one ad platform to rule them all.
resistance is futile, or so they tell us.
2 years ago by constantine
About facebook ads. Would pigsback.com with a social network work? The adverts are either time wasting aps (crosswords, word search) with prizes or coupons. Of course a $1,000 dollar off coupon for target would be useless for me as I'm outside the US, however swapping / giving coupons to the friends on your network...
So how about highly localised coupon adverts which can be swapped like trading cards?
2 years ago by WillKnott
Can a facebook API work on a non-facebook site so you can have a coupon on FabeBook be used on your shopping cart? Or is that the killer advertising app for OpenSocial?
2 years ago by WillKnott
@constantine @sxoop : sounds like the problem was a lack of "privacy control" at the platform level.
2 years ago by MarcusMacInnes
@lexia "organised assault", "posse"?1 What in gods name are you smoking?
2 years ago by Evertb
@james: Stefan is odd :P
2 years ago by runningwithbulls
understatement of the century
2 years ago by constantine
@walter: sorry....not james....that comment was to you..
2 years ago by runningwithbulls
@constantine You don't think they would have done all the same things even if it stayed for college use only?
Also, you'd probably be kicked off for being "too old". Remember, you're going to be "creepy old people" too... and probably sooner than you think.
2 years ago by zerojay
yea and so what? all the people i want to keep a track of are creepy old people too. before facebook it was friendster and before that we all had geocities accounts. whoever thinks facebook will last 1000 years is seriously mistaking it for what it truly is, just a fad.
2 years ago by constantine
correction: when i'm a creepy old person all the people i will care about (my friends now) will also be creepy old people.
2 years ago by constantine
Geocities... those were the days.
2 years ago by zerojay
Lol jay... which mocks the fact that every time a new social engineering app pops up the media treats it as if something new was invented.
2 years ago by Texrat
who remembers when AOL chatrooms were THE SHIT, that fad lasted at least a few years.
2 years ago by constantine
I never was able to get into the AOL chatrooms as I was on Linux even back then and none of the AIM clients supported it.
2 years ago by zerojay
linux back in the 90's? oh boy you're special.
2 years ago by constantine
Mommy always said I was special.
2 years ago by zerojay
@constantine how do you know that the people that call you pumpkin don't have a feed or monitor for your Twitter and Jaiku a/c?
2 years ago by WillKnott
> Geocities... those were the days. Now I feel old - only someone still in their 20's could feel nostalgia for geocities. eWorld - now that was a social network ;-)
2 years ago by sxoop
why are you comparing a microblogging service to a full blown social networking site is beyond me, but when it comes to privacy then yes anyone is able to google me and read my wild banter that is often littered with sexual innuendo and gadget fetishism. jaiku still has the same problem, people who i don't know follow me and every once in a while i find people commenting in my conversations who i don't like so i will delete their comments. nothing is perfect sadly.
2 years ago by constantine
Oh @constantine, don't remind me! I was an AOL moderator in those days /me shudders
2 years ago by Texrat
Geocities was nothing but pain. Man, It must be at least 5 or 10 years since I heard someone say eWorld. What a blast from the past.
I'm just barely still in my 20s. ;)
2 years ago by zerojay
I'm 21.
2 years ago by constantine
mere puppies.
2 years ago by Texrat
At one point I was visiting Facebook every couple of days and using it to send messages to friends I hadn't spoken to for ages. Now, with all the apps being annoying I go on maybe once a week to check if anyone I know has added me, and if anyone wants to contact me I get them onto MSN.
2 years ago by dsample
so many people being annoyed by the applications with no control over which ones are getting added to their profiles...it seems that the Matrix is going to win in the end after all ;)
2 years ago by tabrez
@tabrez People have choices. They can control their experiences. It's just that some people blame technology, instead of using their common sense.
2 years ago by lexia
wow. I've not been very FB-active lately and "rescued some minutes" as @EirePreneur puts it. I haven't been in Jaiku much either and by the looks of this thread its really flying at the moment.
2 years ago by eam0
@tabrez. It's not too bad, you can go onto the app's page and 'block application', I just wish there was a way to block all applications which are in certain categories, or even just block all application invites.
At least through blocking applications I'm now free of the constant Vampire and Pirates invites.
2 years ago by dsample
@eam0, I find it hard to find time to check Jaiku often too. It's hard to keep up-to-date if you follow more than about 5 active people... Messages are off the bottom of the homepage before you've seen them.
2 years ago by dsample
i wish there was a "disable applications" button, but of course they will never turn that shit on.
2 years ago by constantine
Mmmmm, this seems to be a rather "hot topic"... ;-)
2 years ago by Evertb
@dsample: that is the thing about Jaiku, it is passive intimacy. i don't care what my friends are doing 24/7, but when i have some down time i'll open up Jaiku and see what folks are up to. admittingly i do hate those people who live on jaiku all day and have since unsubscribed from them.
2 years ago by constantine
You can make money and find potential in almost every single product and service that exists. Saying Facebook isn't productive is like saying a typewriter isn't productive. JK Rowling made a handsome sum from a typewriter while the Unabomber was a whiney little tosser. It's a business tool if you make it one. Obviously you've found a much easier and better way to make money. Good for you. I'm happy with the money that I make from Facebook though while also having fun with my friends.
2 years ago by DamienMulley
@DamienMulley: True, however some tools are better for the job at hans than others. Unfortunately my time is limited so I can't use all tools. However because Facebook showed lots of potential and i did use it a lot I was wondering if me shifting away from it was just due to me or if others were of tthe same opinion.
2 years ago by Evertb
@dsample yeah but I'm a sucker for trying to follow too many people :)
2 years ago by eam0
don't follow people, follow #tracku using your favourite keywords ;)
2 years ago by tabrez
Merely because it's such a timesink, Facebook will survive on the backs of followers who have joined posses. But when the posses find another hang-out, the survival prospects may change. There will never be a single socnet and people choose their degrees of immersion based on networks and opportunity costs.
2 years ago by topgold
@DamienMulley - perhaps a question for offline discussion but I'm curious - how do you make money from facebook ?
2 years ago by sxoop
@sxoop thought the same myself but you know how common it is to talk about money :-)
2 years ago by PatPhelan
@PatPhelan I think damien has a digg-bait "How to make money from facebook" blog post brewing ;-)
2 years ago by sxoop
@sxoop At the BIMA thing yesterday I was *very tempted to do a pyramid scheme type talk. "If you sign up to my Making Money Course, not only will you get the two cds, you will also get a bonus cd with information on how to make money from email"
2 years ago by DamienMulley
How to get laid from facebook might make Damien loads of money...
2 years ago by Mamanpoulet
it's easier with craigslist
2 years ago by constantine
Thanks for the idea Suzy!
2 years ago by DamienMulley
@DamienMulley and what bonus CDs do we get if we sign-up for "How to make money from EMail" course? :D
2 years ago by tabrez
@tabrez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPsUmhqncAg
2 years ago by DamienMulley
@DamienMulley I don't know about the main video but the suggested videos in the right sidebar surely seem to be interesting ;) http://tinyurl.com/34jxoj
2 years ago by tabrez
"How to make money from talking on social media on making money from social media"?
2 years ago by Evertb
I feel content not having joined facebook. Although I do see value in keeping in touch with long lost friends...
2 years ago by superspace
I've never been that into it. I probably log on about once a week.
2 years ago by Godlesswanderer
Facebook ads tell your friends about your latest breast enlargement : http://tinyurl.com/yuf3kx
2 years ago by tabrez