Facebook is one of those words that stand out in the metaphorical tag cloud of our industry, regularly tripping off the tongues of the media and business users alike. Its popularity aside, however, we decided to find out what people actually think of Facebook as a service.
Answering the question, "How do you feel about Facebook as a service?" 300 readers weighed in, producing the following results:
With 33 percent of the vote, a plurality of our respondents think "Facebook is a decent service, but it could definitely be better." Just below that, 23 percent perceive it as a "fun fad," and 22 percent as an "excellent service." Twelve percent think Facebook is worthless, and 10 percent don't know what "a Facebook" is.
Let's Face it. Facebook performs a basic function well: Connecting people who want to (or feel forced to) be connected. Beyond that, Facebook has work to do in terms of addressing some critical problems.
One of the most frequent complaints about Facebook is that it locks its users in a "walled garden" in an effort to monopolize the social networking space. While Facebook has made strides to remedy this with "Facebook Connect," its "data portability" initiative, it is only in its early stages and has yet to revolutionize the social scene. It's also possible such initiatives may only lead to further monopolization of the space, with major players like Facebook and Google competing for first dibs on exclusive partnerships.
This week Facebook has come up against another glaring issue surrounding data ownership. After making changes to its TOS, essentially saying it owns user data, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the changes in a statement, and then, as of today, has backtracked all together, saying the site will reevaluate and reissue the terms.
This points to yet another Facebook Flaw: communication skills. Ironically, the social networking site (which is, like, designed for promoting effective communication) has failed on numerous occasions to properly communicate with its users, often ending up eating its words after the blogosphere blew up in its face. One tragic example which will follow Facebook to its grave was its mishandling of Beacon, its advertising plan -- which exposed user purchases without, uh, asking first.
Then, of course, there's the teensy green issue that will ultimately define Facebook, as well as other startups born in its image or with hopes of capitalizing on its successes. Facebook's lack of a solid revenue model and its inability to monetize its enormous userbase, if not resolved, may just serve as the supporting case study of why Web 2.0 was a colossal failure, monetarily. (Just looking ahead here...)
Five years on, now a leader in its space, is Facebook simply a "decent" service? They should thank you for saying so.
? Nicole Ferraro, Site Editor, Internet Evolution
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