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I'm convinced that people who slate facebook haven't really used it. It is currently my most effective means of communicating with friends and family. And I don

by jsmcgd 19y ago

I'm convinced that people who slate facebook haven't really used it. It is currently my most effective means of communicating with friends and family. And I don't think I've ever come across such a polished application before, web-based or otherwise.

reidman 19y ago
Agreed. They're better stewards of my social data than I could ever be.
Harj 19y ago
He's not arguing that facebook isn't an effective means of communication or a good web-app. His (valid) point is that users put all their information into facebook without being able to take it back out when they want. There's an imbalance there and it does suck.
- jsmcgd 19y ago
  Well the article is entitled 'Why Facebook Sucks'. I personally don't agree that the point is valid. What you have in Facebook is a list of contacts for other Facebook users. It wouldn't be that useful outside of Facebook.
  - Goladus 19y ago
    The author admits the title is not precise: PS: When I write about it, I do it crudely, saying they suck or don't. When Doc Searls writes about it he calls it Vendor Relationship Management. Doc writes so elegantly because he is a research fellow at Harvard University.
- zaidf 19y ago
  No sane company would open itself completely after only few years of existence. First, obviously it is a social networking fest out there and facebook would be scared--even as it leads--of potential competitors. That is a valid reason to not open up. Secondly, opening up at any level has lots of implications, especially concerning privacy. I would say we should be pretty happy with the direction facebook is going in. Few years into existence and it has built a promising application platform. To all the folks saying that facebook will die the AOL way: they can, but not with the current team. If a day comes when facebook's existence is threatend because they are not opening up enough, guess what? They'll open up some more.

by jsmcgd 19y ago

reidman 19y ago

Agreed. They're better stewards of my social data than I could ever be.

Harj 19y ago

He's not arguing that facebook isn't an effective means of communication or a good web-app. His (valid) point is that users put all their information into facebook without being able to take it back out when they want. There's an imbalance there and it does suck.

jsmcgd 19y ago
Well the article is entitled 'Why Facebook Sucks'. I personally don't agree that the point is valid. What you have in Facebook is a list of contacts for other Facebook users. It wouldn't be that useful outside of Facebook.
- Goladus 19y ago
  The author admits the title is not precise: PS: When I write about it, I do it crudely, saying they suck or don't. When Doc Searls writes about it he calls it Vendor Relationship Management. Doc writes so elegantly because he is a research fellow at Harvard University.
zaidf 19y ago
No sane company would open itself completely after only few years of existence. First, obviously it is a social networking fest out there and facebook would be scared--even as it leads--of potential competitors. That is a valid reason to not open up. Secondly, opening up at any level has lots of implications, especially concerning privacy. I would say we should be pretty happy with the direction facebook is going in. Few years into existence and it has built a promising application platform. To all the folks saying that facebook will die the AOL way: they can, but not with the current team. If a day comes when facebook's existence is threatend because they are not opening up enough, guess what? They'll open up some more.