Remember that Twitter and Facebook did not resemble the same services we have grown to love today. Have you seen screenshots of the earlier version of twitter?

Remember that Twitter and Facebook did not resemble the same services we have grown to love today. Have you seen screenshots of the earlier version of twitter? It was beautifully simple. bare-bones. If you think your features and UI are taken out of fb/twitter's book.. you're doing too much. Scale down, simplify and launch. Then gradually add elements that make sense. A lot of what influences a facebook change/update is the study of human experience and interaction. Study how users interact with your initial version, then make calculated and intelligent design decisions.