I know this post deviates from the content of this blog, but I will get back on track in my next post
Almost everyone today knows what Facebook is, and that can actually be a bad thing.
Historically, as the popularity of a social networking website grows, so does the number of problems that site encounters (privacy issues, scaling issues, user issues, etc.). However, most notably, is the quality of the site’s content can even be inversely tied to the popularity of the site.
Take for example my 3 cases on why popularity on a social networking website is a bad thing:
1) Facebook’s open policy on joining has lost the interest of those who originally helped make it a success.
I recently got a request to add my friend’s mother to my list on FB.
When I first joined this site, it was for college students only. I thought it was cool to have a website dedicated to only being able to share experiences with other college buddies to post stupid pictures, and stay connected with fellow class-mates to stay current with assignments, etc. Furthermore, I have clients that are now on FB that I am obligated to become friends with, which perpetuates frusturation of having to maintain my FB profile.
Because of this, I had to clean-up my profile of any “questionable” content (un-tag all those pictures of me half… well, you know…) and present only the professional side of myself online. It has started to become more hassle than it is worth, and my Twitter account is becoming more valuable and a much simpler form of an online presence. We are just now beginning to see the rise of Twitter, and potentially the decline of FB… but I can save that discussion for another day.
2) Ads on Facebook are repulsive and misleading, and almost as annoying as the MySpace ads.
If you agree, download FireFox and then download an add-on called “Adblock” to get rid of having to see the pictures associated with these ads.
Take for example, all of those teeth whitening ads. Do they have to plaster the before pictures on the right side of my screen? Disgusting.
What about all of those “make $1,000 a day” ads? Well, my friends, they’re all a scam. And here’s an analysis of one:
Scam Site: MichaelsCashBlog.com
Here is why this website is a scam:
- Is his name “Michael” or “Neil” ? Why would he own “NeilsMoneyBlog.com” ?
- “Michael” lies about where he is from. He tries to connect with his visitors by saying he is from his/her area (clever idea though…). Since I am visiting his website from Southern California, his “About Me” section is tailored to show me that he is from a neighboring city of mine.
My name is Michael Anderson. I am originally from the <script src="http://j.maxmind.com/app/geoip.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> document.write(geoip_city()); </script> , <script type="text/javascript"> document.write(geoip_region()); </script> area. Recently married. I lost my job as a boring account rep for a manufacturing company a few months back.....
- I bet that RR isn’t even his.
This guy is a tool. I blame Facebook for allowing advertisements like this. You would never see an ad like this on a reputable website.
3) With the surge of the success of Twitter in 2009 came new security vulnerabilities.
With these flaws becoming public knowledge, people are bound to start looking for alternatives. That is how people made the jump from GeoCities to AOL homepages, from AOL from Xanga, from Xanga to MySpace, MySpace to Facebook and now Facebook to Twitter.
I look forward to the next social networking craze as they seem to improve social networking as a whole, but are finite in their life-span.