I'm not into this social networking - and who answered some half-azzed question about me, and who is buying a cow on what game, etc. I haven't got time for it.
The trouble I see with Facebook is that they won't be able to do everything well. Maybe they can link friends, provide credible email (internally to FB - I cannot see them replacing internet email), home pages, but how long can the list get until they are provide mediocre services and someone else overtakes them? At one time there was a company known as International Business Machines that was the leader in computing, made large computers and invented the Personal Computer. I can remember working at a place in 1984 that they sold a complete hardware and software suite for corporate offices called Office. It flopped. And a young company headed by William Gates stole their thunder and created Microsoft Office. Sadly, Microsoft is now in the same position, trying to find their roots again.
Probably the main problem Facebook faces as they grow is inter-departmental communication. They are growing so fast that it makes me think no-one there knows what's happening. I know they are the latest thing, everyone is there, but the same was true with AOL, which they are quite similar to FB but without the $19 fee -- which incidentally was tied to a credit card, and thus a real identity - more powerful then the friending -- as the root of all evil, money, was involved. Where is AOL? How things change and are yet all the same.
So with all that said, there are places for forums to exist and specialization of knowledge to be shared. I don't know if FB is just the latest fad, there is authenticity to how folks do things there and that's a plus for them that we lack generally on the Internet. But as I lead into this, they at FB can't do everything well. And do we all need to leave a trail of all our thoughts permanently tied to us? A little anonymity is fine in my opinion.
Matt
Probably the main problem Facebook faces as they grow is inter-departmental communication. They are growing so fast that it makes me think no-one there knows what's happening. I know they are the latest thing, everyone is there, but the same was true with AOL, which they are quite similar to FB but without the $19 fee -- which incidentally was tied to a credit card, and thus a real identity - more powerful then the friending -- as the root of all evil, money, was involved. Where is AOL? How things change and are yet all the same.
So with all that said, there are places for forums to exist and specialization of knowledge to be shared. I don't know if FB is just the latest fad, there is authenticity to how folks do things there and that's a plus for them that we lack generally on the Internet. But as I lead into this, they at FB can't do everything well. And do we all need to leave a trail of all our thoughts permanently tied to us? A little anonymity is fine in my opinion.
Matt
Matt,
I wasn't trying to imply that facebook was better than forums. I was just making the observation that many people have migrated from forums to facebook and/or blogs. For their own reasons, they are finding what they need there.
You bring up AOL, and that proves the point that the world changes at a rapid pace. Before AOL, before the World Wide Web, there was Prodigy. There were usenet groups - the first form of online social networking. Then there were forums and instant messaging. Texting has pretty much replaced IM. Forums (unfortunately in my opinion) are being upstaged by facebook, etc. Things evolve and change. We're going to see another big change when Google Plus is released to the general public.
I see the use of the term 'social networking' like it's a bad thing. But forums and all these other things are indeed social networking also. Some of the newer forms allow me to control with whom I interact. Some people may have issues with the games on facebook, but you don't have to play them - and it only takes one click to completely block. Here, if I don't like a particular type of post, I just have to keep wading through it to get to the good stuff. I want to read & discuss cooking - I am not interested in seeing hundreds of recipes reposted from someone's cookbook collection. I have my own cookbook collection. So I wade through everything and see if there's something today that interests me. More often than not, there isn't.
On a forum, you are at the mercy of the moderator to determine what is or isn't appropriate content. On facebook and blogs, you decided for yourself what can be on your page. My blood boils every time I see a political post on a food forum. But I can't do anything about it. So the mods get to make their statement, but no one else can or it becomes an argument which the member can never win. You can evidence that on all small forums, including this one. If you go through the history, you find that anyone who argues with the mods usually ends up banned. On other forms of networking, I am free to respond without the threat of being 'banned' or I can just choose to delete the comments. Therefore, the forum takes on the personality of the individual in control. On a blog, it takes on my own personality.
Unfortunately, I think that those of us who prefer forums are a dying breed. Many forums are lucky to get a small handful of new posts per day. People are migrating to newer forms of interaction. Forums are slowly going the way of usenet. That's just the way of the world. Those of us (myself included) that cling to the older forms of networking will find ourselves in an ever smaller circle of friends. We will continue to cry, "Where did everybody go?"
I wasn't trying to imply that facebook was better than forums. I was just making the observation that many people have migrated from forums to facebook and/or blogs. For their own reasons, they are finding what they need there.
You bring up AOL, and that proves the point that the world changes at a rapid pace. Before AOL, before the World Wide Web, there was Prodigy. There were usenet groups - the first form of online social networking. Then there were forums and instant messaging. Texting has pretty much replaced IM. Forums (unfortunately in my opinion) are being upstaged by facebook, etc. Things evolve and change. We're going to see another big change when Google Plus is released to the general public.
I see the use of the term 'social networking' like it's a bad thing. But forums and all these other things are indeed social networking also. Some of the newer forms allow me to control with whom I interact. Some people may have issues with the games on facebook, but you don't have to play them - and it only takes one click to completely block. Here, if I don't like a particular type of post, I just have to keep wading through it to get to the good stuff. I want to read & discuss cooking - I am not interested in seeing hundreds of recipes reposted from someone's cookbook collection. I have my own cookbook collection. So I wade through everything and see if there's something today that interests me. More often than not, there isn't.
On a forum, you are at the mercy of the moderator to determine what is or isn't appropriate content. On facebook and blogs, you decided for yourself what can be on your page. My blood boils every time I see a political post on a food forum. But I can't do anything about it. So the mods get to make their statement, but no one else can or it becomes an argument which the member can never win. You can evidence that on all small forums, including this one. If you go through the history, you find that anyone who argues with the mods usually ends up banned. On other forms of networking, I am free to respond without the threat of being 'banned' or I can just choose to delete the comments. Therefore, the forum takes on the personality of the individual in control. On a blog, it takes on my own personality.
Unfortunately, I think that those of us who prefer forums are a dying breed. Many forums are lucky to get a small handful of new posts per day. People are migrating to newer forms of interaction. Forums are slowly going the way of usenet. That's just the way of the world. Those of us (myself included) that cling to the older forms of networking will find ourselves in an ever smaller circle of friends. We will continue to cry, "Where did everybody go?"