This morning Jeff Pulver asks whether Facebook has become the new AOL which led to a sudden (though brief) aha! for me.
Perhaps this is why I don’t get it as much as I think I should. There are many more non-techies here than in other groups in which I’ve participated – it’s definitely got more mass appeal.
There’s been such a recent rush lately it’s amazing, but the more I’ve used it the more I just don’t see the value for me. Sure I can find some interesting people on there, but they also exist elsewhere and in many other social groups. The apps seem like more of a timesuck or annoyance really with the number of invitations to add things you get. People’s profile pages are better offer better layout than MySpace for sure, but why do I want to spend time there?
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I can aggregate some of my life stream – also doing that with a vastly greater degree of interactivity and discussion on Jaiku.
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I can get in touch with people I’ve not spoken to in a long time? No – not finding it very helpful there.
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I see my friends add themselves to groups that sound interesting and I join, but often there’s no actual discussion – just joiners. If I did not already share my videos and photos elsewhere it might be fun for that, but who doesn’t already have these other places.
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I can message people I might want to network with? Perhaps, but I actually have plenty of other ways to get in touch.
Facebook seems more like a digital playground (schoolyard perhaps at recess) than something that provides value back. What am I missing here?
