Meant all in good jest of course but the fact that Phil Sim at Squash has taken a step back and conceded that he was wrong about about his original suggestion that when Facebook opened up beyond it’s college base that it was doomed to failure was to say the least impressive. He goes on to add that the opening up; if you can really call it that, of its platform was a brilliant move – as was the acquisition of Parakey that could potentially make it the social network.
Phil makes one other point; regardless of Parakey’s reputed method of joining the desktop and the web, that social networks are only worth what you put into is the real key point of the long term viability of any social network. After all once the first blush of excitement of being part of the newest great thing one has to realize that all these cool new shiny things need to be feed and cared for. These things take time which is becoming more and more of a precious commodity that is being squandered across the board as we get tangled up in being social friends to everyone and their brother.
While Facebook basks in its current hot spot in the life cycle of cool there will come a point that regardless of the number of members it reports like a peacock fanning its tail one will have to wonder just how many are active, how many have gone on to the next cool thing and how many have realized that their time is more valuable than spending it constantly updating some page somewhere just so they can be socially cool.
Sure Microsoft is still the big money earner in the software world and yes it constantly takes hits regarding everything from lousy support for web standards to proprietary data formats to lock its users in a closed cycle of software. That said with the constant looking over its shoulder at Google and the now meteoric rise of Facebook as the new darling of folks like Robert Scoble and the shiny new thing chasers one has to wonder if Microsoft is the new Dark Horse of Web 2.0.
I tend to walk where ever I go in our little town and usually during those walks I trying and map out in my head what I can write about and sort of point form it mentally. Some days I’m successful and a post will just flow and other days I just come up blank. This was the case today as I headed out to the drugstore and thought about this whole Facebook thing that has apparently taken over the internet and being proclaimed as the next new best thing since sliced bread.
