Scobleizer - Latest Comments in The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

mabisa — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 14:14:40 -0000

I disagree with the assertion that Facebook isn't controllable; in fact, I do maintain "two groups of friends," as well as a 'limited profile' in order to, well, limit who sees what of my Facebook persona. The privacy settings are flexible enough such that I ensure that the potentially embarrassing photos, for example, don't make it to family members. In fact, it was Facebook's dedication to privacy controls that convinced me to join a social network for the first time.

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Levi Figueira — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 06:07:18 -0000

NOOO WAY: Daft Punk?? :D
At first I had heard the 2005 album and didn't really enjoy it much... Then I borrowed the older 2001 one with catchy tunes I already knew like "One more time". I'm so hooked on it now!! :D

On the subject: I guess facebook tends to be a traditional social network model (I don't think "deprecated" would fit in..) whereas Twitter and other are a new bread, where information is public as you intend it to be.
There are, of course, pros and cons on both models (privacy later on in life, comes to me when I think of the latest model).

To be honest, you had me try Facebook AND TWITTER!!! :D Although I do enjoy Facebook, it just feels like more of the same (eg. orkut, hi5, netlog, etc...) which I have or had and got tired of it! The one advantage (huge one!) about Facebook is it's interaction with other services... that can be the more "open" ones. That way, you kind of "aggregate" your social networking on one page, for "insiders". (I just tried MyBlogLog and Jaiku yesterday... seem interesting!)

Oh well... creativity is lacking at times in some of those startups: they want to make a better something, instead of creating the best thing! (catchy phrase LOL - you can use it :p)

Keep it up Scoble! :)

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Srinivas — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 03:51:51 -0000

So what are the negatives in iPhone? I want to find some.

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Joel Schraw — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 21:10:59 -0000

Facebook for Business already exists... Fast Pitch! (www.fastpitchnetworking.com)

I'm curious to see what Plaxo comes up with. The guys at Fast Pitch! will have to add another column to this comparison chart:

http://www.fastpitchnetwork...

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Damon Billian — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 09:27:33 -0000

Damon: yeah, I know lots of people find value in LinkedIn for jobs and such, but that’s EXACTLY why I don’t like it.

Facebook is already being used for that and is so much more.

Yes, but I think the primary advantage for LI is that they do have a jobs/recruiting focus. Until Facebook makes more of their service for business folks - even if some are already using it - it won't have the same rate of adoption.

As stated, I do think Facebook is a very legitimate threat to LinkedIn. As it stands right now, I would say that it currently can't beat the LinkedIn product (my professional profile is much more robust on LinkedIn). I've had a lot of potential job offers because of LinkedIn (being a Community Manager/Evangelist is still somewhat of a niche role, so folks find it easy to find folks like me there).

What Facebook could do:
Allow you to segregate business and personal contacts. Now that would be something that could be highly disruptive (99% of my Facebook friends are actually people I know through work!).

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Andrew Pass — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:55:02 -0000

Robert,

How come you don't mention mega social network sites like MyLifeBrand.com (http://www.mylifebrand.com) This site allows users to belong to numerous sites and access all of their memberships under one domain. I personally think that this is the wave of the future. As long as there is money behind Plaxo and other social network sites they are going to stay around. They'll fulfill different niche functions. But then one website, MyLifeBrand will allow users to bring these different niches together as one.

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Ben Werdmuller — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 04:38:56 -0000

At one time AOL and Compuserve had momentum...

I think this is a smart comment. And what killed them both? The web.

The thing that succeeds Facebook, MySpace et al isn't going to be another site that some company throws up. It's going to be something far deeper than that; a standard for sharing data and connections between people, across all the networks and tools out there on the Internet.

The groundwork is already being laid, and it's only a matter of time before we all move on.

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

LayZ — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 03:11:41 -0000

@46 good point. The original users of Facebook...the college crowd wanted a place that wwas "theirs" and wasn't Myspace. Since Facebook opened up, those original users now dpn't like the fact that geezers, dweebs, and punks that used to hang out Myspace are now peeing in the Facebook pool. So they would welcome another place of their own. So, It's unlikely there will be a "Google" equivalent for social networks. If Facebook is not careful they will prove right what Yogi Berra once said about a once popular restaurant: "No one goes there anymore. It's too crowded"

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Tanya (@netchick) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:50:01 -0000

Well, you've got it mostly right with Facebook and maybe one of your other 40-something comments made this point, but you can use Facebook two ways. There's a setting that limits easily your work contacts/friends from your friend/friends (who you don't mind seeing some debauchery) -- Simply click "limited profile" when adding/authorizing the friend, and choose what that limited profile looks like for everyone you have that setting for... Eliminating the concerns of work vs. friend relationships. Besides, the colleagues won't know what they're missing if you have all of them choked down.

Just my two cents worth... From someone who uses that feature frequently!

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

vainentree — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 22:13:14 -0000

These new social networks are springing up all the time, but only a few can stand out. No one is going to visit multiple (maybe two or three) sites to social network. So the new networks need to pull people away from old services if they want to gather a user base. They need to include features to integrate with other social networks, and sports new features that people will want. Much easier said then done. If you don't gain a user base quickly, you'll be just another dead social network. It is getting to be a pretty large graveyard.

-Vainentree
http://thenerdcan.wordpress...

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

LayZ — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:31:27 -0000

At one time AOL and Compuserve had momentum...what's your point, Scoble?

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

druidnights — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:24:06 -0000

I am by no means a "tech-guru", my blog is more diary than anything else so I will not claim to have some outstanding viewpoint on the newest shiny object. I do however utilize the web for various activities including, but certainly not limited to, having accounts on both Facebook -and- MySpace. The fact that Plaxo is releasing a new version sends shivers down my spine. YES... I know that I am beating a dead horse here so I will refrain to spare you all from re-reading everything you've seen on a million other comments. Has the leopard changed it spots? perhaps... perhaps not. I do know that certain cells of my personal and professional "networks" have been burned in the past and would be hard pressed to place their trust once again in Plaxo.

So I guess what I'm wondering is...What does this mean for Plaxo's future in this particular social market? Will they revert back to their old habits to boost their numbers again?

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Michael — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 19:53:19 -0000

You're right that Facebook has a lot of momentum, but they also have glaring weaknesses. They are still slanted towards college kids, and as they get bigger, it's going to get harder and harder to forgive this.

It's amusing that Plaxo is going after them. The people who really have the right bullets to slay Facebook is Ning. With Ning, you can easily separate your co-workers from your drinking buddies, etc. You can also control your data. They give you access to all their data because they give you access to the very source code of their site. Ning reminds me of Google back when Google was the nerdy/geeky search engine to use.

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

tamar — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:55:01 -0000

some HUGELY UNCOOL about facebook -- ageism, not a whit less bigoted, ignorant, disgusting than racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.

see ronni bennet's blog Time Goes By where she documents (two posts) the issue (with massive comments from visitors).

Facebook = Elder Hatebook
http://www.timegoesby.net/2...

Facebook/Hatebook Responses
http://www.timegoesby.net/2...

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Robert Scoble — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:38:49 -0000

Dan: good point. Maybe it's a walled garden with a foot-high fence. :-)

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Dan Fernandez — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:34:56 -0000

Hey Scoble,

The reality is that Facebook is arguably the most open Web site on the Web today and it's probably best to say it's a walled garden with a really big door :)

You can, in fact, pull most (but not all) data from Facebook including friends, photos, groups, events, and more. In fact, just last Friday, we published a video of Soma, the Developer Division Vice President and his daughter doing exactly that using Popfly.

Here's my full post on the subject with examples that pull data from the "alleged" walled garden.

http://blogs.msdn.com/danie...

Cheers,
-Dan

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Steve — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:43:38 -0000

According to LinkedIn, my LinkedIn network added over 13,400 new members in the last three days.

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Mike Kowieski — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:11:15 -0000

I was in the car with my girlfriend last night, and she began telling a story about how one of her good friends decided to take a major step in the relationship she's in. What was that major step?

She decided to change her relationship status on Facebook to "in a relationship" with her significant other.

I laughed at first, but then I began thinking about it. Apparently, her friend was slightly embarrassed to have been dating this guy in the first place. She probably didn't want everyone to know she was seeing this guy. So by changing her relationship status on Facebook, she's guaranteeing that a lot of her friends are going to see it in theirs Newsfeeds. Its basically the same step as calling 200-400 (or however many friends you have on Facebook) and saying "Hey, guess what? I'm dating this person." Doesn't matter if they're your best friend, or if you've only talked to them a few times at a party. Chances are, they're going to see it.

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Chris Rossini — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:00:09 -0000

Robert...I for one thing really like the fact that you cover the latest shiny social objects.

When I read your work, I know I'm getting the cutting edge.

As for Plaxo, I think that unless Facebook screws up big somehow, it's going to be tough luring away the millions of entrenched users. Kind of similar to Pownce and Jaiku trying to grab entrenched Twitter users.

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Lilly Buchwitz — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 13:33:12 -0000

Why are Moscow, Paris, and Capetown "weird" places? :-)

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Dennis Gotto — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:55:16 -0000

Scoble,
I follow your blog religiously and I enjoy the content and commentary.....however...do you think you could possibly give facebook it's own section perhaps? It's a little much these days and I want to continue to read your rss feed, but it's facebook overload recently. Thanks.
DG

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Robert Scoble — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:45:12 -0000

Damon: yeah, I know lots of people find value in LinkedIn for jobs and such, but that's EXACTLY why I don't like it.

Facebook is already being used for that and is so much more.

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Damon Billian — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:25:58 -0000

My guess is that Facebook will adopt the site to support social & business networking, which would separate the two items from one another.

Despite the crtiques of a walled garden, I actually prefer it to something more open. Why: because I get less spam.

LinkedIn: I have to disagree with you here. While some bloggers might not find as much value in it, the people that use it to accomplish something (recruiters & employers) do find value in the product (disclaimer: I know a lot of folks over there). Just because some bloggers might not like it these days, it doesn't mean that other people won't find value in the product (bloggers, after all, aren't the only folks in the universe).

As LinkedIn is a different niche, I think it would be silly for folks to compare it to the other social networks. But I also think LinkedIn has to pay very close attention to the very real threat that Facebook does pose...

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Robert Scoble — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:24:13 -0000

Dan (25): yes, I did and yes, they do. I'm sure they'll change Facebook in response to competitive pressures too.

They do see some of the closed nature of it as an advantage. Why? Anti-spam. They say that a lot of the walls they've put up is to defeat spammers. That's one reason I love Facebook (I say that as I look at 70,000 spams that have been caught by akismet).

Re: The latest “shiny social object”: an open/controllable social network?

Dan York — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:03:08 -0000

Robert, Great post! When you were at this Facebook event, did you talk to the FB developers / mgmt about the whole "walled garden" issue? Do they see the point we are making? (If so, did they show any signs of doing anything to address the issue?) Or do they still view the "privacy" of the FB walls as an advantage? Or don't they even seem to care? Just curious, Dan