Can someone explain to me why, if social networking is such a big deal that no one has built anything useful on top of the Facebook Platform?
I must admit to not being a big Facebook user and I am not that familiar with the details of the API. But what I do know is that something is wrong. Because it appears to be a platform that is genetically incapable of producing anything that seems to be useful. The Platform’s uselessness has risen to the level of broad societal joke where the punch line is "super poke."
I am really not trying to be sarcastic here, but I know I have some super smart subscribers, and so I am just wondering if anybody can help explain this?
11 comments:
Few corporations promote the use of Facebook. Some are actively hostile and ban even going to the site from the corporate network. Others allow access but there are strict rules about data and what can "appear" on the site. Then, for those who get the idea behind Facebook, the tendency is to reproduce it, but inside the firewall.
Application developers recognize this unconsciously, I think, and so you don't see anything useful developing.
I thikn it's because to succeed, a Facebook app really needs to embrace the "social" aspect (i.e. have some built-in way to encourage networking as well as meeting a common need), but there are almost always better apps out there for all the "killer" social needs. If you want to blog in a social manner, there's LiveJournal. If you want to organize group meetings around specific interests, there's MeetUp. If you want to find friends or potential dates, there's OKCupid. Dopplr does location, Twitter does status updates, etc. So unless someone takes the time to make a Facebook app that duplicates one of these other sites' functions precisely (or even better than the original) and in as useful a manner, it's not going to catch on; people will just use the other site, since it's better.
A lot of Facebook apps seem to miss this. They're interesting for five minutes, but they fail to embrace the fact that they can draw on your network of friends and help you plan and execute real social engagements. Flixster, for example, can tell me which friends I have similar movie tastes to, but it doesn't help me plan movie nights or find local movies to go to with local friends, for instance.
I totally agree.
Hype and toy widgets do not make for a true "platform". I think we see all of the hallmarks of Facebook becoming yesterday's story.
Keep up the good posts and give 'em hell. You have become one of my favorite reads!
Can't find the link, but someone wrote that potential Facebook App developers are scared off by the fact that Facebook doesn't have a killer monetization process yet. If an app developer figures out how to make big bucks off of the Facebook platform, there's nothing to stop Facebook from ripping that off and pulling the rug out from under that app.
Also, no matter how successful you are, Facebook holds a lot of power over you, and I think for many (most?) entrepreneurs, that's too big of a question mark to invest in fully.
If Facebooks apps are useless, then you also need to stop serving beer in a pub.
It's not usefull, it's social.
OTOH, I like to keep my presentlist available for my friends:
http://apps.facebook.com/cadeaulijst/
A more in depth answer is that Facebook does not allow external authentication providers for applications. That's why you can't consume a paypall service from within a facebook application.
Facebook is a "generic tier" social network. It's main purpose is to simply connect individuals without doing so under some utility umbrella. This is why many compare it to the early days of MSFT.
The data out from a non utility social network isn't much of anything. It's all about data in, and, in the context of games/gimmicks.
So, what do you get with a bunch of noob game developers...crap, for the time being.
I posted about some of this on my blog...
http://www.trumptheniche.com/category/social-gaming/
And, I think, it depends on how you determine “useful”. People heavily involved in Facebook obviously find the tools provided useful in one way or another; many of them are used extensively. I totally agree with you, however, some days ago I got a notice I was rated among the top ten friends of one of my contacts in Facebook, and I was asked to rate him on the same scale. This, I think, is not a useful tool. I find it actually “anti-social” to use apps like that, and I think these kinds of “plug-ins” have an impact on how third party apps generally are viewed. Many of my contacts that use Facebook a lot are shutting out third party apps all together, going with only the functionality provided originally.
Here in Norway the use of Facebook has taken completely off, and many bigger companies has restricted the access to Facebook from the company IPs. People were dragging their social life to much into the work space.
Anyway, thanks for a good blog!
As a LibraryThing user, I was intrigued by Facebook's Visual Bookshelf. Sounds like a useful idea: sharing your reading habits with your friends. The interface turned me right off, though, so back to LibraryThing I went.
Is that what you mean by "useful"? I suppose if something is designed to be annoying and ugly, it's not useful, no matter how well-intentioned. : )
I tend to agree with you about the futility of the apps. But a few comments OTOH:
talking to friends is sometimes "meaningless" and yet so useful.
by the nature of the applications a person on FB is using, you can already start to understand that person better (are they competitive, addictive, etc.)
@bruce stewart: totally agree that companies need the same applications without the 'personal' strings attached.
And, I think the next level for FB will be figuring out how to reclassify friends (a la Plaxo) as well as figure out how to internationalize the platform according to the different cultural hangups (privacy settings and laws).
All in all, I am a big fan of FB for putting me back in touch with lots of friends around the world.
I think this stems from the base of Facebook. It's the whole reason that they have trouble monetizing the site. I joined it about four years ago when I started college, and wasn't really sure why it got all the hype. At that time I think it was some sort of experiment that happened to get lucky and catch on. There was no vision for the site, it was guided by the users as it was used and only now is Facebook trying to play catch up as seen by later opening up to High Schools and then the general public. The users that guided it made it a place for placing personal information and drunken photos, and really nothing more. So back to the point that I think Facebook has lost its base as a "useful" site. They are attempting to change that with a redesign, so we'll just see if that changes the mentality of the site.
The face lift on facebook has happened and...guess what?
They isolated all of the useless apps. So if you want to get a fix of "meaningless" entertainment, you can have it!
I believe that somehow they read this posts! Lol!
Cheers,
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