This is a perfectly posited article and thesis. Sad but true.
Are we really close friends? Will I tell you what I tell my closest friends knowing all of this will end up - forever - on the web? And in Google’s search algorithms? So some venture backed company can generate clicks to turn pixels into gold?
Can Facebook really make a business around “friendship” and “community”? We really tried at AOL in the old days but instant messaging was such an intimate one-on-one bit of self expression that no one supported ads. And then chat rooms were tough to monetize, too. Who knew what was being said and by whom in chat rooms? Email, guess what we got? Ads in the bottom of email forms and bad sig files. This is tough to make a business around that feels good to the consumer and the advertiser.
Is Facebook a utility?
Is it a fun place to hang out?
Is it a media company?
A platform and for whom?
Julia is right. Facebook has become something new and different. This weekend while I have time, I will drill down on the privacy settings and have to make some tough calls. Do I want to use Facebook as a publishing platform and really look at my 5,000 friends as an audience or do I fool myself into thinking Facebook really is like Cheers, a place where I like to hang out and meet up and mingle and chat with my buddies?
I thought this article was very poignant, smart and thought provoking.
Tags: Facebook, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take, Twitter
Thanks for sharing. Lots to digest. Still think Facebook is a great forum but I’ve never understood how the business model ultimately proves successful. Monkeying with the privacy settings is a huge mistake. Wasn’t aware that Twitter comments make it into Google. Since I post on Facebook via Twitter, guess I’d better be careful.
It seems like every new medium - email, text, web 2.0, offers refuge only until it too is overrun.
At the end of the day, irrespective of medium, you always ask yourself “Is this communication unique to me?” Anything else is lost in the crowd.
I was trying to lift some emails out of my FB account only to find that it is a TOS violation to do that in any kind of automated way. Talk about a rude awakening!
So you’re a “Megan Fox” Page guy eh?
No point there other than I personally earmark Pages on my Facebook account for my personal benefit, not to make a statement about my interests to whoever looks me up on Google.
I’d like to think pages I link to are generating some living content, that they’re not just collections of popularity counts by by(buy)-line.
So I recently dumped a lot of my Pages. I can use my browser bookmarks, and then I’m not giving away free data on the popularity of an actress with really hot amazing…acting skills.
I want my Facebook privacy back.