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Personally, I don't see why it can't be many things to many people. Everyone's network is different.
It's like reality television - it's not really reality because you know the cameras are on you.
Same situation with Facebook: your behaviour is dictated by the fact that you know people are watching your every move.
i guess as a comparison, i can give you 90 other data points from students in the Facebook Apps class i'm teaching at Stanford this fall who would offer a contrary perspective. they have formed 30 teams of 3 to build apps and learn about using Facebook as an launchpad for startup entrepreneurship. i doubt any of them feel like they're wasting their time, as you suggest.
regardless whether there is one (Facebook) or many (Google, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc) environments for creating socially-aware applications, i have no doubt such platforms will provide great utility for both personal- & business-related functions.
your pessimism on the subject notwithstanding, i'd also say the ~50 or so startups who've built Facebook apps in the past 6 months, and have acquired >1M total users or >100K daily active users are also not wasting their time. while many of those apps may be playful or focused on entertainment that seems "non-business", the companies who are creating them are driving for very real business objectives, and are funded by VCs who expect real returns on their capital.
lastly, the continued focus on a college demographic is telling last year's story -- usage in the over 25 age group is growing rapidly and in the UK and Canada (where Facebook didn't start in the college demographic) the population is fairly evenly distributed amone age groups 15-45.
you can continue to beat the horse for as long as it drives readership, but the horse you are beating is headed for the glue factory. meanwhile while you write their epitaph, there are plenty of healthy thoroughbreds out racing around the track.
regards,
- dave mcclure
http://GraphingSocial.com
http://500hats.typepad.com
You lost me.
First, the age of Facebook users tells you nothing about how they are using the app — or how successful they are at achieving their goals, i.e. personal networking vs. professional networking. I’ve no doubt that there are many people over 22 using Facebook to connect with friends and family — that’s what it’s designed for.
My critique is not about Facebook as a PERSONAL social networking app or about the potential to build or grow a business by developing an app for Facebook Platform. Facebook may well become the most popular PERSONAL networking platform on the planet, and many VC-backed Facebook app companies will do well (all O’Reilly’s analysis suggests a very long tail won’t, but that’s another story).
No, my critique is about whether Facebook is the right platform for BUSINESS networking, i.e. developing and cultivating professional relationships. I think online BUSINESS networking is going to go vertical — and that’s not necessarily going to be a big blow to Facebook, which will likely retain everyone who uses it for personal networking. But I do think it represents a BIG opportunity for vertical professional networks.
ok, so my apologies if i misinterpreted your remarks above — to me, it sounded like you were stating a pessimistic view of the future opportunity for companies that were making bets on the Facebook application platform economy.
on the other hand, while i’d agree with you there are MANY opportunities for other social networks & social application platforms to be successful, i don’t think that means that Facebook is exclusive to business networking.
while i’m still a big LinkedIn fan, i’ve also seen a ton of my communications and relationships with Silicon Valley VCs, angels, entrepreneurs & geeks move into the Facebook arena.
in any case, i guess your mileage may vary.
peace out,
- dmc
But how does one op-ed piece by a 23-year-old prove anything, much less prove that "the jokes on everyone who's taking Facebook seriously."? Are we to believe that the op-ed contributor, Alice Mathias, is the individual in charge of determining who the jokes on? What if the jokes on her and many (most?) of the tens of millions of student users of Facebook are not only goofing off and entertaining themselves on Facebook -- but are also learning to use it for networking purposes that involve academics, planning extracurricular activites and organizing clubs and teams. And why is it that American business people -- like you -- don't accept that youthful play is where shildren -- all the way through to college -- develop the interpersonal and team skills that evolve into business skills. What if the jokes on Alice and it's the fun and entertainment of Facebook that actually helps it to become a business tool because it reflects certain preferences and ethos of a new generation of workers?
In much the same way that "The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton," perhaps one day we'll look back and observe the the business networking battle was won in the sandbox of Facebook. Or, perhaps not. But one thing is certain. For business people -- especially media business people -- to avoid learning first-hand what Facebook is all about (and LinkedIn, for that matter) because of anything Alice writes in her op-ed piece is ensuring that the joke, one day, will be on them.
Alice's piece seems a bit too dismissive, although I agree with you that Facebook isn't as professional as it is friendly.
You have me up until “For business people — especially media business people” — all of the “adults” in Facebook are either using it for fun or they are media/tech folks trying to understand all of the hype.
I agree that Facebook is a great place to experiment and fool around. But Zuckerberg & Co. have duped everyone into believing that Facebook is the panacea for every use case.
And it’s just not. It’s a fantastic trailblazer — but it isn’t the final destination.
Everyone using Facebook for business is doing so because the hype machine makes them feel like they should, NOT because it’s self-evidently the right app for the purpose. And that’s fine — everyone is learning. But soon it’s going to be time to grow up.
And, no, you can quote all the developmental psych you want, but I still don’t by that “poking” business contacts or seeing what type of relationship they seek with a man or a woman is forwarding any business networking objectives. It’s just silly.
As I'd been the architect of its use from the beginning, I could set the initial tone and then see where the staff would take it. It was hugely powerful in boosting productivity and creating in-house connections across disciplines and national cultures.
It generated a lot of humour as social connections were developed and a great many relationships became much closer as a result. Without any need to "snoop", it provided me with a dashboard into the productivity of my news organization.
The problem with other colleagues who were more dismissive of the benefits at the time, was that they did not monitor it for long enough to see how it could short-circuit story generation and knowledge transfer, particularly on complex topics which needed to be nuanced for multiple readerships. Invariably, they'd log in when a cockney rabble-rouser was "slapping" a female German colleague with a large trout, an action which in the real-world I would obviously have had to sack him for. (For those not familiar with mIRC in this context, see Wikipedia).
http://lawtech.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/linkedi...
Facebook picked a very short sighted strategy. Instead of growing with the college crowd they had (who inevitably would have become the next generation of professionals and adults) they decided to shoot for popularity with the geek crowd today. Good luck, but I think it is a mistake.
General debate followed. Where was this world going? What the hell is that? That is not music?!
It took some time but then, like any innovation, it became mainstream and even a skill or mastery. Millions were made with the "improper use" of vinyl records;-)
Innovative use of tools to do something is led, as Maria mentioned, by its users. Often those users are younger people as they are exploring life and often have a much more expiremental approach to everything. They are still exploring.
So, here we have a different generation (non-students) coming up with different way to use a tool that had been only offered to students.
Different people make different use of tools. WhoopyDoo. The debate about how something should be used is arguably boring. Exploration of interesting, innovative use of tools is probably more interesting.
When I was ten, I got sick of adults claiming authority on wisdom and what was right. As far as I was concerned, that is age discrimination. I wrote on a note to myself, that as an adult, I would never disregard someone because of their younger age.
Today I would say that this works both ways.
Innovative use is just that - innovative. The merit of the innovation should be considered in its own right.
No age group can lay claim on the proper use of a tool - or Facebook. Just because they were the first to use it - does not mean it is the best and only way to use it.
Cheers