Many of the articles talk about social capital and the value of social networking. The “Social graph-iti” article relates more to how programs, such as Facebook are social networks. One comment made in this article is that Facebook is going to be the next Google, but I find that untrue for a few reasons. I feel like Facebook is just like having a phone or AIM in a sense, because it is used worldwide and is just another way to communicate and share interests with others. I know it is meant in a way that it is going to be as big as Google, but since it seems to be only used for that one purpose, I don’t believe they are going to have the opportunity to become as successful. I also find it interesting that MySpace is used a lot more than Facebook. I know many people have MySpace pages, but I never hear of people using it. People are always talking about “facebook-ing” someone rather than messaging or finding someone on MySpace. At the same time, people talk about how annoying Facebook has become with the Mini Feed and the Applications, however they are being used more and more often. Why is this? Why does everyone talk about something they don’t enjoy, yet use it even more?
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Hi Kendra. I think that MySpace is more widely used than Facebook, as when it started out, it was marketed for everybody unlike facebook.com which was limited to college students. Therefore MySpace had initially more world-wide appeal and across different generations. However, because they have opened up facebook to everyone it is competing with MySpace.
Both social networking sites are similar in purpose yet their use-interfaces are different and facebook has extra features such as those annoying pokey things etc to try to make it more social.
I used to think that if you had a MySpace page you were more out there and in public view. However, facebook is becoming more like that, yet you can restrict who views your page with limited access functions.
I believe that people are using it because they give into the pressure of other doing it. I think people don't realize that the applications in Facebook are used to obtain information for big companies on what interest the masses. It may be cute and free applications but once you agree to the terms, you allow companies and other to be free to access all your information on your account. I like my privacy.
On the topic of Facebook becoming the next Google. I agree that Facebook is just a social networking device like AIM. It will NEVER compare to the awesome and great Google.
Last thing, the reason MySpace is used more than Facebook is because is started before Facebook. It started originally for musicians, then began spreading it's audience to the general public. It grew too much that once Facebook arrived to a specific niche; people changed networks. The only reason it has continued to succeed is the publicity it provides for musicians. It created it's own label. It might not last long though, depending on what happens January 30th
Privacy is a big concern of mine as well. I would not want companies looking up my profiles on sites like Facebook or MySpace or even MeetSpot which I had when I was younger. Currently, all of these sites have pretty secure systems where we can provide limited access to our profiles.
Now each social networking site allows people of a same area or school or set of interests to communicate and get to know one another, without actually having to meet face to face. I also believe that this is an issue because according to my buddy count on Facebook, I can have say 300 friends, but how many of them have I actually met? Probably 50-75 at most. These sites are exactly like AIM except they are pumped filled with applications which are on the most part useless. We can live with them, however we can also live with out them.
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