Re point 1, see my answer above, especially the last bit https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5814061 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5814061 The idea tha

Re point 1, see my answer above, especially the last bit https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5814061 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5814061 The idea that the shared stuff is of "no value to most people" is a good indication that you haven't understood what's actually going on. > doesn't need to look like FB This is true, but then, Facebook has 1.1bn users and has thrashed all of the rival sites in the marketplace. You should be able to work out why Facebook has been really successful and why Friendster, Orkut, Hi5, MySpace, and many others have not. If you don't understand that, then you're not in a good position to criticise Facebook.