When Facebook first arrived, it was great. You used it to talk with your friends, you used it to poke someone if you wanted to say hi but didn’t want to say much else, and you used it to join groups of people with similar interests.
Then, pictures came along, and suddenly, you could even see what your friends were doing.
Everything was great. You could keep in touch with your friends (even the ones half way across the country), there weren’t a lot of ads, and it wasn’t MySpace.
Then, things started to fall apart.
Facebook opened up its API, and in my opinion, the entire site went down the drain (and quickly).
It became a collection of random widgets and wingdings, and I now no longer want to go to the site. I don’t care if a “zombie” friend just bit me; I don’t care what you posted on your friend’s Graffiti wall (that looks like it was made with MS Paint); and I certainly don’t want you to buy me a fake drink.
I just want to see what you did, what you’re doing, and what you’re going to do. Sadly, each day it’s getting harder and harder to do so.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I understand the Mr. Zuckerberg is trying to value his company at $15 Billion (That’s right, billion with a B.), and to do so he’s got to show that it can make money; but I think that at some point along its growth curve, Facebook forgot what made people switch: It wasn’t MySpace.
MySpace was messy and noisy and dirty. Facebook was clean and quiet and simple. You signed on, you sent a few messages, and you were done.
Sadly, applications have ruined all that, and unless Facebook can find a way of monetizing without clutterizing, I think it’s going to be tough times for the Wonder Company. (Though I still think that in the end, Mark is going to make off like a bandit regardless of what happens to the site. Hellooooo billionaire status.)
Thankfully, at least a few people agree. Read/Write Web recently wrote a post titled “Facebook: What If More Is Less?”, and in the post, they spend a majority of the time going over many of the same problems that I have just described.
In essence, Facebook has turned into a love it or hate it site, and the haters are gaining ground.
So what do you think? Has Facebook lost what made it so special, or have I just lost my argument? Let me know below.
[Read/Write Web - Facebook: What If Less Is More?]
[Facebook]
[MySpace]
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