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The network-effects now are much greater in magnitude than they were then. True, and in fact, they are so much greater in magnitude that they're no longer alwa

The network-effects now are much greater in magnitude than they were then. True, and in fact, they are so much greater in magnitude that they're no longer always a good thing. I don't benefit from any 'network effects' when my mother, my boss, my wife, my girlfriend, and the kid who used to beat me up for lunch money in 4th grade are all part of my one and only 'network.' If Facebook doesn't get a clue about that, Google can and will eat their lunch.

hackinthebochs 15y ago
I just don't think this is as big of a problem as those in tech circles seem to think it is. Facebook already has mechanisms to mitigate this; from wall updates filtered based on activity to friends lists and groups. Anyone who this was really a problem for has many options: delete unwanted "friends", ignore them, create lists for people they want to share with, create exclusion lists, create groups. People just don't seem to care that much. Facebook has always had a "public by default" feel to it. Most people have adjusted their behavior, and their expectations, accordingly. The circles feature will take some serious marketing by Google before it becomes a killer feature for anyone but highly technical people. At that point, all facebook would have to do is make lists for visible to mitigate any mass defection. The ball will always be in facebook's court, until some major redefining feature is invented by an upstart.
dasil003 15y ago
> If Facebook doesn't get a clue about that, Google can and will eat their lunch. Come on now, isn't it a bit premature to make a statement like this? Google has positively sucked at social every time they tried anything until Google+. Now they have something that is obviously a lot better and interesting in many ways, but I don't understand why the bubble pundit set is frothing at the mouth so vigorously. They have a huge road ahead to compete with Facebook in any meaningful way. Everyone wants to sound the Facebook death knell, but you can't look at Friendster or MySpace for historical lessons, neither of those sites crossed the chasm, and both suffered from severe technical setbacks that hampered development. Despite the valley mentality of always searching for the next big thing, there's no sign that the public at large has any appetite for a new social network. It could well be that social network adoption was a fad, and Facebook just becomes the defacto standard for non-techies, and the up-and-comers all end up serving smaller niche audiences. I'm not saying that's what I believe will happen because I think it's foolish to make any predictions about something as volatile as social networking, but it certainly seems just as likely to me as Google+ just up and "eating Facebook's lunch".
bad_user 15y ago
You have a wife and a girlfriend? And both are connected to you on FB?

hackinthebochs 15y ago

I just don't think this is as big of a problem as those in tech circles seem to think it is. Facebook already has mechanisms to mitigate this; from wall updates filtered based on activity to friends lists and groups. Anyone who this was really a problem for has many options: delete unwanted "friends", ignore them, create lists for people they want to share with, create exclusion lists, create groups. People just don't seem to care that much. Facebook has always had a "public by default" feel to it. Most people have adjusted their behavior, and their expectations, accordingly. The circles feature will take some serious marketing by Google before it becomes a killer feature for anyone but highly technical people. At that point, all facebook would have to do is make lists for visible to mitigate any mass defection. The ball will always be in facebook's court, until some major redefining feature is invented by an upstart.

dasil003 15y ago

> If Facebook doesn't get a clue about that, Google can and will eat their lunch. Come on now, isn't it a bit premature to make a statement like this? Google has positively sucked at social every time they tried anything until Google+. Now they have something that is obviously a lot better and interesting in many ways, but I don't understand why the bubble pundit set is frothing at the mouth so vigorously. They have a huge road ahead to compete with Facebook in any meaningful way. Everyone wants to sound the Facebook death knell, but you can't look at Friendster or MySpace for historical lessons, neither of those sites crossed the chasm, and both suffered from severe technical setbacks that hampered development. Despite the valley mentality of always searching for the next big thing, there's no sign that the public at large has any appetite for a new social network. It could well be that social network adoption was a fad, and Facebook just becomes the defacto standard for non-techies, and the up-and-comers all end up serving smaller niche audiences. I'm not saying that's what I believe will happen because I think it's foolish to make any predictions about something as volatile as social networking, but it certainly seems just as likely to me as Google+ just up and "eating Facebook's lunch".

bad_user 15y ago

You have a wife and a girlfriend? And both are connected to you on FB?