The virtues of Facebook (yes, I’m serious)

As I wait for something to download over our slow (but thankfully available) satellite internet connection here at the cottage (inside working and not outside enjoying this beautiful Saturday!) I decided to take a few minutes to reflect on the virtues of Facebook. But before I get too far, let me say this. If you’ve heard of Facebook but currently aren’t using it, odds are you have a misconception of what it actually is and why it’s so important.

When I first heard about Facebook, I was reluctant to create an account simply because I didn’t see the value in doing so. My original perception was that of another MySpace, aimed primarily at students to communicate and share photos with each other. And while that may very well have been the case when Facebook was originally concived, things have changed considerably since then.

Facebook looks to be one the most important — and possibly valuable — technologies to emerge online in quite a number of years. Quite frankly, it will not surprise me to see Facebook become an online giant on the scale of Google.

As with every other social-networking site, Facebook’s primary value comes from the network of “friends” you build. However, I believe Facebook is the first of the sites to truly understand the full potential of this network, and with the release of their Apps they’ve set out to fully tap into it.

For example, the News Feed feature which has been around for a while now (and apparently caused quite a stir when it was first launched). It’s a straightforward concept, but was quite unique when it was originally conceived. Put simply, the News Feed is an “activity aggregator” which takes all of the various activities of your friends, and presents the information in one convenient list.

The best analogy I can think of is that of being in a room with all your friends, and there are a number of conversations going on around you. You can hear what’s going on and can choose to participate if you like. So, if someone posts a video, you’ll see it. If someone comments on a photo, you’ll see it. If someone rates a movie, you’ll see it.

I think you get the idea.

(This obviously raises a number of privacy concerns, but Facebook has seen fit to provided a number of flexible options to ensure everyone has a comfortable level of privacy.)

Along the same lines, I’ve noticed a common trend for users of social-networking sites to build out the biggest network possible. Size always seems to be an issue for some. In the case of Facebook, I actually think a larger network dilutes its value to you simply because you’re faced with increased noise from the network. That said, I have to give Facebook credit as they’re utilizing some interesting algorithms to filter out the unwanted clutter to only present you with relevant info (in the case of the News Feed at least).

And just a few weeks ago, Facebook has taken the next step as they further transform themselves into a full fledged platform. With the release of Applications, third-party developers can now write apps that can run inside of Facebook and tap into your network of friends (or social graph as Facebook calls it). It may not be apparent at first, but this is hugely important because it provides contextual relevance to many aspects of the internet. David Sacks (of PayPal fame) had some interesting things to say about this topic a few weeks back, and I have to agree with him (except for the peanut butter & bread analogy… it didn’t feel quite right).

We’re just starting to see the first generations of applications created by developers, and the results look very promising. And to everyone who hasn’t checked Facebook out yet, I suggest you give it a try. Myself however, I welcome our new social-network overlords.