The Demise of Facebook… Part 2 of 3
In Part one of The Demise of Facebook, I looked at several facets of Facebook that have helped it become popular. People have always been pleased with Facebook’s simple interface layout and easy navigation, but there are some flaws in Facebook that will haunt its future.
In Part 1 of The Demise of Facebook, I looked at several facets of Facebook that have helped it become popular. People have always been pleased with Facebook’s simple interface layout and easy navigation, but there are some flaws in Facebook that will haunt its future.
Applications are ruining Facebook. Photo: I Started Something
Platform
In the beginning, when Facebook was limited, it provided simple features: messaging, friend lists, event management, etc. As Facebook grew, so did it’s vision. Facebook has grown from simple networking/messaging to an online social operating system. CEO Mark Zuckerberg even voiced in his F8 (ironically spells fate) Keynote that the new vision of Facebook is to become an operating system.
Facebook Platform, a mesh of extensive APIs and programming malarkey, allows developers to build on to Facebook. Developers can create applications that hook their applications into Facebook, and vice-versa.
These applications are getting a mixed reception. Some people hate them. Many like them. But all are plagued by the spam-like social nature of the applications. Some applications, such as the Picasa application, provide useful conduit to another service on the Internet. The Picasa application, for example, allows you to upload photos, using the Picasa desktop program, straight to Facebook. Other applications have missed the mark entirely.
Applications are getting out of hand. People loved the mature Facebook. It was messaging/friend-making/event-planning bliss. Facebook is locked in a gradual, deadly decline.
When I log on to Facebook, dozens of “application invites” plug up my notification area. People want to know if I want to play “Pirates vs. Ninjas”… Hell no. “Grow a plant on my profile?”… Like weed? Punch someone?… Yeah, in real life.
Application developers are loving the gigantic social graph they tap into with their applications. For example, a Stanford course on Facebook Applications was collectively able to obtain 10 million users in 10 weeks. People are raking it in, too. A do-what-you-want policy lets application developers maintain applications for no fees, and serve advertisements without penalty. This win-win model allows some application developers earn upwards of $4,000 a day.
Facebook, has been deemed the number 1 persuasive technology1. This clout, coupled with the power of the social graph, greedy developers and a juicy API have rocketed Facebook into the online operating system world. Although capable, Facebook will never be taken seriously as an online operating system due to the fact that “Pirates vs. Ninjas” has nothing to do with productivity or networking. At all.
Citations
- Learning to Create Engaging Apps for Facebook: What Works and What Does Not – http://www.baychi.org/calendar/20071211/#1
- Facebook Developers | Videos – http://developers.facebook.com/videos.php
About Brad
Brad Kovach is an award-winning web developer from Afton, Wyoming. In his spare time, he enjoys drumming on Rock Band, and playing with this website.
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Brad Kovach - The Demise of Facebook… Part 3 of 3
On January 15th, 2008
4:55 pm
[...] Parts One and Two of my series on The Demise of Facebook, I looked at Facebook’s background in general, [...]