meh

so until 300 million people start using it, why would I switch?
because FB costs too much?
because google is has so many more mindless games?
because FB has been so evil in their pricing strategy?

yah

will be interesting to see how long it takes for google's spaceface to get to 10m users, 100m users.

RogermcAllen: namatad: so until 300 million people start using it, why would I switch?

They will have 300 million people at launch if they decide to automatically opt in every gmail user like they did with Buzz.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

RogermcAllen: They will have 300 million people at launch if they decide to automatically opt in every gmail user like they did with Buzz.

And that is the story of how Google Buzz killed facebook.

I'm not selling anything, so I don't care if it has 300 million users, or even a million users. I only care if my friends are there instead of somewhere else.

Facebook is total crap -- most people of reasonable intelligence could design a better social networking site. Facebook is like the weakest child of a poor litter spawned by Geocities and Usenet.

I joined Facebook because my friends migrated there, and I wanted to stay in touch with them. I don't give a crap about its games or features, and neither did they. It's like when everyone winds up at a crappy bar because that's where a bunch of people in the group already were.

Sooner or later, you're going to migrate to a better bar. And I don't choose a bar by looking for the one that's the most crowded already.

That said, Google's social networking crap will probably be crap, too. Unfortunately, choosing these things is often a first-penguin-in-the-water kind of thing.

Is the Facebook killer anything like the Craigslist killer?



/DNRTFA

blackminded: Ahem.

Join Diaspora (new window)

This.

The thing that's not making Facebook go away (unlike previous social networks) is its messaging apps.

Those messaging apps have, for most people, effectively replaced email for common discourse and communication. Especially since they can be accessed through mobile devices.

So instead of just dicking around with profiles and content (wants), people are using it for important functions in their life like networking and communication (needs).

Within the next ten years email will slowly phase out of common usage just like newsgroups, mailing lists and BBS boards back in the 90s: Replaced by simpler, faster, more robust and intuitive web-based messaging services for a growing class of communication-starved but tech-deficient users (especially young people) who regard it as a tool that was, is, and always will be there.

And people are generally VERY loyal to things they need (functional applications), as opposed to luxury things they want but can do without (toys). Hence, Facebook is essential as the telephone or the car.

I don't see that changing anytime soon.