Is Facebook gonna do a faceplant?

[scottmandue]

Also, when I started there was almost no "friending" vendors... now people have walmart and target posts on their walls.

I admit to friending some non-profits that post to my page.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by BSiple

"You've got mail!"

[Rick Lee]

FB ain't going away anytime soon. Their users are not necessarily the stock-buying crowd. I love FB, have reconnected with countless old friends with whom I had lost touch before email existed. I couldn't care less about their stock price.

[skunked]

Originally Posted by Z-man

Unfortunately, I have friended some 'real life' friends who seem to have an alter-ego when they are on facebook. There is this one person who is my 'friend' on facebook who is a typical example of an annoying facebook user:

-Z

You can block friends so you don't see their comments.

You can also select what type of notifications you want to receive, I had to do this after being overwhelmed with emails about pointless posts and responses from users.

[gtc]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the first nail in FBs coffin, like when news corp bought myspace. Facebook really is no different than any of the previous social networks, and I'm frankly amazed they managed to stay in vogue so long.

I think Google+ had some promise, but google screwed up in a few significant areas... for instance their privacy policies were even worse than Facebooks.

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I love FB, have reconnected with countless old friends with whom I had lost touch before email existed.

This facet of FB use (reconnecting with long-lost friends) is always brought up by the faithful in any discussion of the site's usefulness. This seems a bit overblown to me. Since the advent of e-mail, I've hooked up with quite a few people from my past, and at first, it's interesting to see how their lives have turned out. But after sharing some photos and telling your own life story, there's not too much more to it. After the initial flurry of exchanges, most have once again faded back into the past. I don't have the time, or the interest, in keeping up with the goings-on of people I haven't seen in 20 years...unless I'm trying to sell them something.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by rcooled

This facet of FB use (reconnecting with long-lost friends) is always brought up by the faithful in any discussion of the site's usefulness. This seems a bit overblown to me. Since the advent of e-mail, I've hooked up with quite a few people from my past, and at first, it's interesting to see how their lives have turned out. But after sharing some photos and telling your own life story, there's not too much more to it. After the initial flurry of exchanges, most have once again faded back into the past. I don't have the time, or the interest, in keeping up with the goings-on of people I haven't seen in 20 years...unless I'm trying to sell them something.

My real friends I either see in person or take the time to call on the phone. Facebook is an amusement to see what happened to people that I knew at one point in the past. If your only connection to someone is Facebook, they're not a "real" friend. Probably why I maybe visit FB on a monthly basis, if that.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

My real friends I either see in person or take the time to call on the phone. Facebook is an amusement to see what happened to people that I knew at one point in the past. If your only connection to someone is Facebook, they're not a "real" friend. Probably why I maybe visit FB on a monthly basis, if that.

What are these "real friends" you speak of? Is that an iPhone app I can download for free?

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Brando

Facebook going public? Probably a bad, baaaad idea. Now their real 'revenue' generation methods will be heavily scrutinized by investors & the market. It really is smoke and mirrors. Once that comes to light, they'll have to scramble for a real way to make money, or be re-valued even lower.

Maybe a bad idea, but it wasn't their idea. It was the SEC that forced them to go public because they had more than 500 share holders. I assume that was because hundreds of employees are vested or venture capital held too many shares.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by rcooled

This facet of FB use (reconnecting with long-lost friends) is always brought up by the faithful in any discussion of the site's usefulness. This seems a bit overblown to me. Since the advent of e-mail, I've hooked up with quite a few people from my past, and at first, it's interesting to see how their lives have turned out. But after sharing some photos and telling your own life story, there's not too much more to it. After the initial flurry of exchanges, most have once again faded back into the past. I don't have the time, or the interest, in keeping up with the goings-on of people I haven't seen in 20 years...unless I'm trying to sell them something.

Well, I have a lot of very far-flung, old friends. I'm typing at the moment in the house of a friend whose family hosted me as an exchange student in 1988. I've kept in touch with him and his folks since then. But plenty of others I knew well back then and on subsequent visits have gotten married and changed their names or use a different first name now and that was all long before email. I love catching up with old friends. Tomorrow I'm going to a gathering at the high school where I was an exchange student 24 yrs. ago. I can't even remember all the teachers' names, but I sure look forward to seeing everyone.

My last trip to Germany was free because an old college buddy, with whom I did not keep in contact, offered to loan me 20k miles on Continental when I put the word out on FB. I just needed to borrow 20k miles for a few weeks before I had them on account to repay. This guy came out of the woodwork and just gave me the whole ticket because he can't use all the miles he has, doesn't want them repaid. Thanks FB.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I'm typing at the moment in the house of a friend whose family hosted me as an exchange student in 1988.

So what you're saying is, you've announced to everyone on FB who can read your posts that your house is currently unoccupied and you're out of the country?

Maybe THIS is the type of data Facebook is going to make $$$ selling.

[Z-man]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

So what you're saying is, you've announced to everyone on FB who can read your posts that your house is currently unoccupied and you're out of the country?

Maybe THIS is the type of data Facebook is going to make $$$ selling.

This is why I don't post about trips on Facebook (or Pelican for that matter) until AFTER I return.

[motion]

LOL, if your FB friends are casing your house while you're out of the country, you have much bigger problems than being on FB

[lendaddy]

Facebook is a classic example of unrealized potential. They don't have the monetizing side of things figured out yet, but holy chit do they have potential. They are so deeply rooted into generic existence I find it hard to believe they won't figure it out.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

Facebook is a classic example of unrealized potential. They don't have the monetizing side of things figured out yet, but holy chit do they have potential. They are so deeply rooted into generic existence I find it hard to believe they won't figure it out.

Can you explain to me what the hell "generic existence" is? Because Goggle left me looking at gibberish.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Can you explain to me what the hell "generic existence" is? Because Goggle left me looking at gibberish.

I understand that some see no value or are even offended by it, but trust me that "everyone" under 30 is on facebook in one way or another(and most over that)...think about that. That's crazy silly exposure.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally Posted by motion

LOL, if your FB friends are casing your house while you're out of the country, you have much bigger problems than being on FB

If you think your FB friends are the only one reading your FB ramblings, you've got blinders on.

[Z-man]

Originally Posted by widebody911

There are various milestones at which the shark could be considered jumped:

When every company had a stupid "Like us on Facebook" button on their page

I think the companies which are getting the most marketing miles out of facebook are the ones that are doing what you describe above.

People who "like" a company will see wall posts from that company. And since they are the ones who initiated the "like" it isn't percieved as pressure advertising.

Much more effective than the click-through advertising, IMHO.

-Z-man.

[Flieger]

You can change your notification settings. I only see email notifications for posts on my wall, for messages/friend requests, and for "close friends'" posts on their own walls which is a list that I made with only a few people who I actually care about their posts.

[jyl]

I have no interest in reconnecting with friends from long ago. Those times are past, we've all changed, no reason to think we'd have anything in common anymore, some of them would make me sad. In most cases I could find them with a couple of phone calls. Why? Life is too busy - I don't have enough time for the friends I have.