09/05/2007 09:54:56 PM 
(3) 
(3) The problem is that it's perhaps a little too easy. We get attracted by the blinkling lights and add new applications and join groups on a whim. It's wonderful to see those groups grow and cool when new fun applications arrive, it's a little like living in an amusement arcade.
However, while all this stuff is happening we seem to be missing the powerful potential of this social network to make a difference and to do something really interesting for all of us.
Today, Time Incorporated announced it was closing its magazine Business 2.0. It was a sad day for subscribers and those of us who were fortunate enough to get free copies of the magazine.
However, for the 2,500+ members of the Facebook group that had formed to try and save the mag, myself included, it was another day on the social network, with all the usual distractions.
Many had probably forgotten they had joined the group in the first place, others had lost interest after a few days.
The problem is that it's easy to click and join and very hard to do something constructive.
It's the big weakness in the Facebook system.
For groups, it's hard to leverage, galvanize, manage and do something great with Facebook.
Facebook is attracting a ton of people and it's doing a great job with the basics, but the real "win" is leveraging the collective wisdom and power of crowds to do something interesting; to buy goods at a discount, to give loans, change the political system, raise environmental standards, reduce poverty and yes, even keep interesting business magazines afloat.
If Facebook can do this, fantastic.However, I have a hunch that a couple of kids in Mumbai are working on something that can do everything Facebook can do but will trump it because it can harness the collective power of the crowd.
Facebook, the clock is a ticking.
Posted by Ed Cotton
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Facebook knows the clock is ticking
They're leveraging their entire platform on Facebook "apps" and want those kids to build something for their members. Groups will build up around apps or apps will strengthen exisitng groups. I personally want kiva.org to build a complex Facebook app so a large group could interact while helping the world...Maybe form teams for a do-gooder competition. To qualify; I don't work for Facebook or Kiva, I'm just a geek marketer.
Posted by Alex Capehart on 09/09/2007 03:19 AM
They're leveraging their entire platform on Facebook "apps" and want those kids to build something for their members. Groups will build up around apps or apps will strengthen exisitng groups. I personally want kiva.org to build a complex Facebook app so a large group could interact while helping the world...Maybe form teams for a do-gooder competition. To qualify; I don't work for Facebook or Kiva, I'm just a geek marketer.
Posted by Alex Capehart on 09/09/2007 03:19 AM
Hard to... do something great with Facebook.
Al Bundy said it's not the dress that makes you look fat... it's the fat that makes you look fat." In the same way, I don't think Facebook's design or features prevents group collaboration per se. "The problem is that it's easy to click and join and very hard to do something constructive. It's the big weakness in the Facebook system." OK, I can think of improvements they might make, but... apathy is Facebook's fault?! The biggest reason for inaction is that doing great things can take great time and great effort! Let's not blame a functional tool for work not done. It's primarily a question of our values and priorities.
Posted by John Kane on 09/12/2007 04:41 PM
Al Bundy said it's not the dress that makes you look fat... it's the fat that makes you look fat." In the same way, I don't think Facebook's design or features prevents group collaboration per se. "The problem is that it's easy to click and join and very hard to do something constructive. It's the big weakness in the Facebook system." OK, I can think of improvements they might make, but... apathy is Facebook's fault?! The biggest reason for inaction is that doing great things can take great time and great effort! Let's not blame a functional tool for work not done. It's primarily a question of our values and priorities.
Posted by John Kane on 09/12/2007 04:41 PM
It appears you don't have Flash installed.
I think that a large part of the appeal of Facebook to Generation Z is that it's almost another form of TV. While it is built for interaction, the ability to cruise through and while away time is akin to channel surfing. If it truily was a rooted in call for action, like some of the socailly conscious SNS that now exist, I would guess that it would not be the prom king that it is.