Facebook is Boring
The problem with Facebook is that it’s still stuck in a Web 1.0 mindset: stickiness, stickiness, stickiness. They only half-embrace the widgetization ethos of Web 2.0: data comes in, but it doesn’t come out. The thing is a rat hole, and you can’t get anything out of it.
You won’t believe how much time I waste manually retyping party invites from Facebook to Google Calendar. Now I hear Facebook has actually banned Google Friend Connect. Mark Zuckerberg is determined to make your life harder just so you spend more time on his site.
Ultimately, Facebook’s rat hole strategy will reap massive backlash in the form of sheer user boredom. When you’re trapped in a rat hole, you feel obligated to scurry about like the rest of the rats, whether you want to or not. Obligation makes even the most varied activities boring. Hence this song, I’m Getting Bored of Facebook.
Facebook Panics as MySpace Opens Up
Two days ago, I said MySpace’s new data portability initiative will force competitors to open up. Looks like it’ll happen sooner than I expected. Facebook announces its own data portability initiative, Facebook Connect.
Thing is, Facebook Connect is still weeks away, and they’ve announced only one partner. Facebook is infamous for jealously locking in user data, even at the very public expense of A-list customers, so this announcement sounds less like a working strategic plan and more like a panicked press release. This is just Facebook trying to save face.
