Comments on: Why I still use Facebook, and other musings on social networks http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/ a blog about information Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:38:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Nothing to Declare » links for 2008-01-19 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/comment-page-1/#comment-262151 Nothing to Declare » links for 2008-01-19 Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:17:43 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/#comment-262151 [...] Why I still use Facebook, and other musings on social networks | confused of calcutta JP on that much-misunderstood Facebook. I jest - but it is, too. (tags: facebook) [...] [...] Why I still use Facebook, and other musings on social networks | confused of calcutta JP on that much-misunderstood Facebook. I jest – but it is, too. (tags: facebook) [...]

]]> By: Wikis, social networking and Facebook « Is this Future Shock? http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/comment-page-1/#comment-261626 Wikis, social networking and Facebook « Is this Future Shock? Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:51:52 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/#comment-261626 [...] Rangaswami says “The information that flows through a social network exists in three dimensions. One [...] [...] Rangaswami says “The information that flows through a social network exists in three dimensions. One [...]

]]> By: Richard Holway http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/comment-page-1/#comment-261607 Richard Holway Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:10:36 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/#comment-261607 Can I suggest you 'Listen again' or down oad the podcast of last night's 'In Business' on BBC Radion 4. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/inbusiness/inbusiness.shtml. It is all about the enterprise use of social networking (and Facebook in particular - have you noticed how Facebook is now the 'Hoover' to vacuum cleaning or the 'Google' to search?) The comments by Dan Black, Manager of Campus Recruitment for E&Y in the US, are particularly compelling. I have been a major fan of Facebook for quite some time now. I have written more articles and given more presentations about it than any other topic in the last year (well, it is rather more interesting than BPO which I guess was my most 'popular' subject in the year before ). When I first used Facebook I had very similar feelings as I had back in 1983 when Apple gave me a pre release of Lisa. I knew that most of it was borrowed (nicked?) from others and that this was far from the 'final product'. But , warts and all, this was the start of the future. At each of my presentations, I have asked the audience if they have heard of Facebook and then if they themselves have any social networking profile. I've gone from Can I suggest you ‘Listen again’ or down oad the podcast of last night’s ‘In Business’ on BBC Radion 4. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/inbusiness/inbusiness.shtml.
It is all about the enterprise use of social networking (and Facebook in particular – have you noticed how Facebook is now the ‘Hoover’ to vacuum cleaning or the ‘Google’ to search?) The comments by Dan Black, Manager of Campus Recruitment for E&Y in the US, are particularly compelling.
I have been a major fan of Facebook for quite some time now. I have written more articles and given more presentations about it than any other topic in the last year (well, it is rather more interesting than BPO which I guess was my most ‘popular’ subject in the year before ). When I first used Facebook I had very similar feelings as I had back in 1983 when Apple gave me a pre release of Lisa. I knew that most of it was borrowed (nicked?) from others and that this was far from the ‘final product’. But , warts and all, this was the start of the future.
At each of my presentations, I have asked the audience if they have heard of Facebook and then if they themselves have any social networking profile. I’ve gone from

]]> By: Phil Whitehouse http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/comment-page-1/#comment-261435 Phil Whitehouse Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:53:59 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/#comment-261435 Facebook as a utility isn't a problem and your description of the various benefits resonates with me. But the problem is that Facebook's walled garden limits the potential of what we can do with those benefits. The possibilities are capped. The opportunity (for us as well as Zuckerberg) is passing by. It's a damned shame! The ramifications for any Facebook-in-the-Enterprise initiative are immense, of course; being forced to build anything on Facebook's dictatorial terms halts any initiative dead in it's tracks. SOA will gather momentum in 2008 and Facebook is moving in a completely different direction. I'm enamoured by the prospect of something-like-Facebook in the Enterprise, but IMHO it has to be based on open standards to have any chance of success. I'd expect your daughter to continue enjoying Facebook for a good while yet, but as her generation gets older and starts caring about things like data portability, the group will start to drift away. Facebook will still have millions of registered users, but this figure won't reflect the change when it's taking place. Facebook as a utility isn’t a problem and your description of the various benefits resonates with me. But the problem is that Facebook’s walled garden limits the potential of what we can do with those benefits. The possibilities are capped. The opportunity (for us as well as Zuckerberg) is passing by. It’s a damned shame!

The ramifications for any Facebook-in-the-Enterprise initiative are immense, of course; being forced to build anything on Facebook’s dictatorial terms halts any initiative dead in it’s tracks. SOA will gather momentum in 2008 and Facebook is moving in a completely different direction. I’m enamoured by the prospect of something-like-Facebook in the Enterprise, but IMHO it has to be based on open standards to have any chance of success.

I’d expect your daughter to continue enjoying Facebook for a good while yet, but as her generation gets older and starts caring about things like data portability, the group will start to drift away. Facebook will still have millions of registered users, but this figure won’t reflect the change when it’s taking place.

]]> By: Mark Samuels http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/comment-page-1/#comment-261431 Mark Samuels Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:38:44 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/#comment-261431 Not sure you're right actually, JP. Check out Google news - it's full of Facebook stories (thousands and thousands), most of them in the 'more addictive than crack' and 'Facebook is going to change the world' strain. There are few critical analyses of social networking in a business context. As an aside, next month's Computing Business looks at the business implications of social networking - the potential business benefits / tricky decisions about implementation and prohibition. Oh and my objections to Facebook are at an entirely personal level: http://knowledge.computing.co.uk/2008/01/facebook-linked.html As I posted on one of your comments the other day - am I missing something…? Not sure you’re right actually, JP. Check out Google news – it’s full of Facebook stories (thousands and thousands), most of them in the ‘more addictive than crack’ and ‘Facebook is going to change the world’ strain. There are few critical analyses of social networking in a business context.

As an aside, next month’s Computing Business looks at the business implications of social networking – the potential business benefits / tricky decisions about implementation and prohibition.

Oh and my objections to Facebook are at an entirely personal level:

http://knowledge.computing.co.uk/2008/01/facebook-linked.html

As I posted on one of your comments the other day – am I missing something…?

]]> By: Martin Lindner http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/comment-page-1/#comment-261418 Martin Lindner Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:04:14 +0000 http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2008/01/18/why-i-still-use-facebook-and-other-musings-on-social-networks/#comment-261418 i perfectly understand why one would want to use facebook in an enterprise context: it just models the social patterns of communication there. and it sure ist much better than LinkedIn. still i personally don't feel at home there: it has also something to do with the overall user experience design. one would have to actually use facebook as the homepage to the Web to make it really work, which means replacing the open "small pieces loosely joined" pattern with a much more restricted less-dimensional one. this has advantages, but i don't really like it. (i still have to hear the your podcast with Weinberger.) as an alternative, what about a combination of twitter (for presence clouds and emotional networks), pownce (for interest groups) and MyBlogLog (which is the profile page which i like most)? ok, this would have to be integrated somehow in a Digital Lifestyle Aggregator. and people may not be ready to use this, because they still transfer the old communication paradigms of the "real world" to the Web, instead of doing it the other way round. so basically, facebook is an intermediary state in the cultural revolution we are experiencing now. if it succeeds, it will because it does to the Web 2.0 what Microsoft had done to Personal Computing: making it more compatible to traditional concepts of subjectivity, identity, and work. but in the long run, it will be just a dead side-branch of the digital (r)evolution. i perfectly understand why one would want to use facebook in an enterprise context: it just models the social patterns of communication there. and it sure ist much better than LinkedIn. still i personally don’t feel at home there: it has also something to do with the overall user experience design.

one would have to actually use facebook as the homepage to the Web to make it really work, which means replacing the open “small pieces loosely joined” pattern with a much more restricted less-dimensional one. this has advantages, but i don’t really like it. (i still have to hear the your podcast with Weinberger.)

as an alternative, what about a combination of twitter (for presence clouds and emotional networks), pownce (for interest groups) and MyBlogLog (which is the profile page which i like most)? ok, this would have to be integrated somehow in a Digital Lifestyle Aggregator. and people may not be ready to use this, because they still transfer the old communication paradigms of the “real world” to the Web, instead of doing it the other way round.

so basically, facebook is an intermediary state in the cultural revolution we are experiencing now. if it succeeds, it will because it does to the Web 2.0 what Microsoft had done to Personal Computing: making it more compatible to traditional concepts of subjectivity, identity, and work. but in the long run, it will be just a dead side-branch of the digital (r)evolution.

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