Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Facebook Exodus? Twitter the next major SNS?



New York Times Article: Facebook Exodus




“The more dependent we allow ourselves to become to something like Facebook — and Facebook does everything in its power to make you more dependent — the more Facebook can and does abuse us,” Harmsen explained by indignant e-mail. “It is not ‘your’ Facebook profile. It is Facebook’s profile about you.”


Havnt I been saying this all along with the Olia Lialina/garden knome theory? I talked about this in my first semester of grad school when I did my Independant Study with Pete Baldes. Olia Lialina first wrote about this kind of idea in her Vernacular Web 2.0 Essay


Regarding the Facebook Exodus, I think itll happen. Duh. It happened with Friendster, MySpace, and it will certainly happen with Facebook. However I think that this article is a bit early. Twitter is certainly an up and coming SNS, but i dont think its the new Facebook. Facebook is still going strong, and with the new Facebook Lite, I really dont think its going anywhere yet. Its still got a few years left in it. But to simply state that its going to tank at some point is silly. Of course. All "cool" things eventually cease to be cool. Thats the business of cool. Virginia Heffernan isnt really saying anything new, in my opinion. 
Do I think Twitter will ever, at any point in time be the new Facebook? No. 
Why? 
Because. Its not "stalkerish" enough. We have become too dependent on knowing everything.
Who is breaking up with who?
Why is that drunk photo of such and such posted?
Why wasnt I invited?
What is that quote in the profile supposed to mean?
Why did they person tag that photo?
OMG, did you see what she was wearing?
....you cant do these things with Twitter! Twitter only shows exactly what the user wants. Im not sure its gonna fully take off unless people can use it as a tool for a more defined social interaction. There isnt enough. Twitter functions less as Big Brother. Too much user control, in terms of content. You tweet whatever you want. Facebook has many options of info sharing and although Twitter does too, its more limited. 
Bottom line? Twitter isnt nosy enough. 

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