I had lunch with Dave Morin of Facebook today (he’s one of the key guys on the application platform) and that led to some brainstorming about what would happen if Facebook were to open up a hotel or casino. Watch my Kyte video for that (embedded on this post).
But, in other news, someone just attacked me for my use of Facebook. Says I treat it as a “one way” medium to push out content to my unsuspecting friends.
Such a claim isn’t worth a link or acknowledgement because it demonstrates a total misunderstanding of how Facebook works.
What do I mean? It’s impossible to treat Facebook as a one-way medium. Here’s why: when I sign into Facebook I don’t see the stuff I’ve published on my home page. No, instead I see a bunch of stuff my friends have published.
Here, try it yourself. Sign into Facebook and visit the “home page” which is where your News Feed is.
Do you see anything you published yourself? I don’t.
I see a link from Teresa Klein. I see Ryan Westrom writing on my wall. I see Eric Auchard backsliding onb his vacation. I see Scott Westerman posting Jeremiah Owyang’s White Paper. I see Jeremy Wagstaff and Walt Mossberg joining a group for the Wall Street Journal Online. Tom Conrad is attending Coda. Chris Messina posted a news story. Dave Davison joined the group Nobody for President. Dave Morin wrote on my wall. Ken Kaplan added “people” to his interests. Jeff Grosse commented on Kevin Dugan’s video. Andrew Bourland sent me a gift. And on and on and on.
I read this feed a lot more than I think about writing on my blog lately.
What’s even more interesting is how Facebook picks stuff from my 4,775 friends to put on my wall.
Dave told me there’s a set of algorithms that keep track of which friends of yours are closer friends to you than others. For instance, if you write on someone’s wall, you’ll get more of their items. I’ll do some other tests to reverse engineer the News Feed’s algorithm a bit.
Anyway, back to the idea of a Facebook Hotel.
Think about how a business would change if it knew every one of its customers had a Facebook account.
I was thinking of a hotel/casino where when I walked in the iPod in the room was playing the music that I had set as my favorite on my Facebook profile. The digital screens in my room had all my photos and some random photos from my friends. My favorite movies and TV shows were on the video device. The bar knew my favorite drink and how I liked it made.
That got me thinking about how I’d change my business after I knew everything about my customers.
Thought of the day.
Oh, one thing? In my Facebook Hotel anyone who just attacks me would be deleted. So, if that’s your idea of fun, hang out somewhere else cause I’m starting to delete comments from people who don’t add any value here. Get your own blog if all you want to do is attack me.
Seems like FaceBook doesn’t need to waste money on marketing as they have got it free through you.
Seems like FaceBook doesn’t need to waste money on marketing as they have got it free through you.
The biggest mental obstacle I have with promoting my use of Facebook is the nagging thought that it’s like CompuServe’s fenced pastures used to be in a world before Windows. Although I trust the business logic behind the way most of Facebook is cloaked from Google, I distrust anything that looks and feels like a vanity mirror and Facebook’s legacy as a college campus club evokes that reaction from me.
Nonetheless, as a college lecturer, I know I increase my reach to students who need the repetition by extending conversations from the lecture hall. I bake some of those conversations into take-away thoughts that fold into Facebook groups. That seems to have pedagogical merit.
On the operational side, I cannot justify clocking up two hours a day while following Facebook Zeitgeist inside Facebook itself. I need to read stuff that’s relevant to me on the RSS devices that have proven they can serve up content faster than me stumbling upon it. So we’re developing a harvester to burrow into Facebook masked as a web browsing session and then aggregates the information back out as an XML feed. That way, I can enjoy the fenced pastures of Facebook without walking through the land myself.
The biggest mental obstacle I have with promoting my use of Facebook is the nagging thought that it’s like CompuServe’s fenced pastures used to be in a world before Windows. Although I trust the business logic behind the way most of Facebook is cloaked from Google, I distrust anything that looks and feels like a vanity mirror and Facebook’s legacy as a college campus club evokes that reaction from me.
Nonetheless, as a college lecturer, I know I increase my reach to students who need the repetition by extending conversations from the lecture hall. I bake some of those conversations into take-away thoughts that fold into Facebook groups. That seems to have pedagogical merit.
On the operational side, I cannot justify clocking up two hours a day while following Facebook Zeitgeist inside Facebook itself. I need to read stuff that’s relevant to me on the RSS devices that have proven they can serve up content faster than me stumbling upon it. So we’re developing a harvester to burrow into Facebook masked as a web browsing session and then aggregates the information back out as an XML feed. That way, I can enjoy the fenced pastures of Facebook without walking through the land myself.
If you read Dare’s post accusing you of hijacking his facebook it actually makes sense.
http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/2007/08/08/HowRobertScobleHijackedMyFacebookNewsFeed.aspx
the problem I think is you use Facebook a lot unlike other people who login just once a day to update or post stuff.
If you read Dare’s post accusing you of hijacking his facebook it actually makes sense.
http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/2007/08/08/HowRobertScobleHijackedMyFacebookNewsFeed.aspx
the problem I think is you use Facebook a lot unlike other people who login just once a day to update or post stuff.
The world should move to more open environments instead of walled gardens. You realize you’re evangelizing about one of the most walled gardens out there, right? Their famous API is in fact only useful within Facebook.
Robert, I’m not attacking you, but seriously… Google grew under the mantra “don’t do evil” and yet today they scare the shit out of many people. What is Facebook saying today, when they’re not nearly the size of Google, so we can trust them now? Not much. And tomorrow?
I hesitate.
The world should move to more open environments instead of walled gardens. You realize you’re evangelizing about one of the most walled gardens out there, right? Their famous API is in fact only useful within Facebook.
Robert, I’m not attacking you, but seriously… Google grew under the mantra “don’t do evil” and yet today they scare the shit out of many people. What is Facebook saying today, when they’re not nearly the size of Google, so we can trust them now? Not much. And tomorrow?
I hesitate.
same goes for my twitter … all I can see is you everywhere LOL
same goes for my twitter … all I can see is you everywhere LOL
Eesh. All the comments before me are negative. What gives? I think it’s a cool idea, literally, even though it’s highly metaphorical. Imagine hotels implementing this now.
Hi, I’ll just need a card to charge it to…Okay, here’s your invoice, and oh, what’s your facebook account.
Cheers.
Eesh. All the comments before me are negative. What gives? I think it’s a cool idea, literally, even though it’s highly metaphorical. Imagine hotels implementing this now.
Hi, I’ll just need a card to charge it to…Okay, here’s your invoice, and oh, what’s your facebook account.
Cheers.
RBA: I seem to remember you thinking blogging was a fad when I first started doing those back in 2001. Just to let you know that you haven’t been on the right side of the wall before.
The fact that it’s walled off a bit actually is what makes it interesting. But we have yet to really explain why that is.
Oh, and it has been opening up a bit lately. It’s not as closed as you make it out to be.
Arpit: that was caused by a bug. It should be better now. Also I’ve changed my behavior and am “pruning” stuff off of my Facebook feed so I don’t overwhelm my friends.
One thing: you’ll get more stuff from people who you’ve interacted with. So, if you leave a message on someone’s wall you’ll get more stuff from them.
RBA: I seem to remember you thinking blogging was a fad when I first started doing those back in 2001. Just to let you know that you haven’t been on the right side of the wall before.
The fact that it’s walled off a bit actually is what makes it interesting. But we have yet to really explain why that is.
Oh, and it has been opening up a bit lately. It’s not as closed as you make it out to be.
Arpit: that was caused by a bug. It should be better now. Also I’ve changed my behavior and am “pruning” stuff off of my Facebook feed so I don’t overwhelm my friends.
One thing: you’ll get more stuff from people who you’ve interacted with. So, if you leave a message on someone’s wall you’ll get more stuff from them.
Bernie: you probably don’t even need to scrape Facebook. Last week they added some RSS feeds for the feed, if I remember the posts right.
I can see your point, but do you see a business card as a “vanity” object? Facebook is just the modern business card.
Bernie: you probably don’t even need to scrape Facebook. Last week they added some RSS feeds for the feed, if I remember the posts right.
I can see your point, but do you see a business card as a “vanity” object? Facebook is just the modern business card.
Facebook is just a bunch of personal ads. Sure, you get others blog posts, but that’s because they don’t have a blog.
Facebook is just a bunch of personal ads. Sure, you get others blog posts, but that’s because they don’t have a blog.
HavingFun: if you think that’s all it is it’s pretty obvious you haven’t used it much.
HavingFun: if you think that’s all it is it’s pretty obvious you haven’t used it much.
“RBA: I seem to remember you thinking blogging was a fad when I first started doing those back in 2001″
Robert, are you confusing me with someone else?
In 2001 I had no idea what blogging was, but I was running a YahooGroups-like service (still am) and I was defintely up for user-generated content, conversation, etc. And when I learned about blogging (somewhere in 2004), I launched a blogging platform (zoomblog.com). It’s not WordPress but the point is, I definitely think you’re mistaking me for someone else
All in all, I’m not throwing stones at Facebook, all I’m saying is that I do hesitate.
BTW, regarding your bizcard analogy, you know Facebook today is still very much a US-centric app. It may be your business card replacement, but if you go Europe, you’ll probably have to leave your “garden” and check Xing out. Or Orkut if you go Brazil, good-ole Friendster if you go to the Phillipines, etc. See what I’m saying?
You build your world in FB and it’s cool. As long as you don’t leave your world or manage to bring those out of it into it, you’re fine. But it’s *your* world. Others, especially those outside US, may want to build theirs somewhere else. Would you leave FB tomorrow and join, say, Xing? And there we go with the walled gardens again
These apps (Facebook, Xing, etc) will become the modern business card when they are no longer walled gardens. But they are businesses and they see more value being a walled garden than an open one. If we were to find an analogy with software we’d know that “walled” (propietary, closed) is not necessarily better.
So yeah I hesitate. I have my world somewhere else, and I’m not comfortable every time I get a message alerting me that I need to go to my FB account to see/read/check something out. Just like you might feel if you’ve got messages from LinkedIn, Xing, Orkut or Ryze…
“RBA: I seem to remember you thinking blogging was a fad when I first started doing those back in 2001″
Robert, are you confusing me with someone else?
In 2001 I had no idea what blogging was, but I was running a YahooGroups-like service (still am) and I was defintely up for user-generated content, conversation, etc. And when I learned about blogging (somewhere in 2004), I launched a blogging platform (zoomblog.com). It’s not WordPress but the point is, I definitely think you’re mistaking me for someone else
All in all, I’m not throwing stones at Facebook, all I’m saying is that I do hesitate.
BTW, regarding your bizcard analogy, you know Facebook today is still very much a US-centric app. It may be your business card replacement, but if you go Europe, you’ll probably have to leave your “garden” and check Xing out. Or Orkut if you go Brazil, good-ole Friendster if you go to the Phillipines, etc. See what I’m saying?
You build your world in FB and it’s cool. As long as you don’t leave your world or manage to bring those out of it into it, you’re fine. But it’s *your* world. Others, especially those outside US, may want to build theirs somewhere else. Would you leave FB tomorrow and join, say, Xing? And there we go with the walled gardens again
These apps (Facebook, Xing, etc) will become the modern business card when they are no longer walled gardens. But they are businesses and they see more value being a walled garden than an open one. If we were to find an analogy with software we’d know that “walled” (propietary, closed) is not necessarily better.
So yeah I hesitate. I have my world somewhere else, and I’m not comfortable every time I get a message alerting me that I need to go to my FB account to see/read/check something out. Just like you might feel if you’ve got messages from LinkedIn, Xing, Orkut or Ryze…
Actually I did get you confused with someone else, sorry about that. Rich Levin is who I was thinking of.
I’m still on Orkut too. Just in case.
I think you all are focusing too much on the wall and not enough on the garden. But that’s cool.
Actually, having a little wall makes for a better experience. And it’s not like I need more friends. In fact, I’m about to hit a real wall there: Facebook can only accept 5,000 friends and I have about 4,800.
I’m still waiting for the ultimate “open” social network. I’m on Plaxo, too.
But the problem with that is that as someone gets more open all Facebook has to do is match them and they still win.
Actually I did get you confused with someone else, sorry about that. Rich Levin is who I was thinking of.
I’m still on Orkut too. Just in case.
I think you all are focusing too much on the wall and not enough on the garden. But that’s cool.
Actually, having a little wall makes for a better experience. And it’s not like I need more friends. In fact, I’m about to hit a real wall there: Facebook can only accept 5,000 friends and I have about 4,800.
I’m still waiting for the ultimate “open” social network. I’m on Plaxo, too.
But the problem with that is that as someone gets more open all Facebook has to do is match them and they still win.
I work in the hotel and tech industry – I could definitely see the potential for this. Most large hotel groups are highly focussed on guest profiles and the more info they have the better. What I could see working is a facebook third party API from someone like marriott or intercontinental which could link some of your facebook data to your guest profile – now that would be very valuable to hotels!
I work in the hotel and tech industry – I could definitely see the potential for this. Most large hotel groups are highly focussed on guest profiles and the more info they have the better. What I could see working is a facebook third party API from someone like marriott or intercontinental which could link some of your facebook data to your guest profile – now that would be very valuable to hotels!
Robert,
Do you think that Facebook (as a platform built to be closed) will be able to open up to match a platform built to be open (and close up depending on the user’s preference/context)?
~biff~
Robert,
Do you think that Facebook (as a platform built to be closed) will be able to open up to match a platform built to be open (and close up depending on the user’s preference/context)?
~biff~
Naked: yes. Because Facebook really isn’t that closed if you look at it the right way. The wall around the garden is only a foot high.
So, if someone comes in without a wall at all (which might actually bring a lot of spam/noise/etc, if done wrong) then it wouldn’t be hard for Facebook to turn on API’s for the stuff that they aren’t sharing yet (like the status message).
Naked: yes. Because Facebook really isn’t that closed if you look at it the right way. The wall around the garden is only a foot high.
So, if someone comes in without a wall at all (which might actually bring a lot of spam/noise/etc, if done wrong) then it wouldn’t be hard for Facebook to turn on API’s for the stuff that they aren’t sharing yet (like the status message).
What happens if everything and everyone people think or know they need, is actually in the walled garden?
The majority of people I observe using Facebook are non-tech Europeans who simply see it as a cool way to keep in touch, and a majority of them didn’t engage with Facebook, Virb or even Instant Messaging.
They don’t have a need for multiple sites for different purposes, or to aggregate a number of RSS feeds.
In an entirely open world, people will build social and physical barriers to entry to separate themselves, just as they did in early towns and spaces.
What happens if everything and everyone people think or know they need, is actually in the walled garden?
The majority of people I observe using Facebook are non-tech Europeans who simply see it as a cool way to keep in touch, and a majority of them didn’t engage with Facebook, Virb or even Instant Messaging.
They don’t have a need for multiple sites for different purposes, or to aggregate a number of RSS feeds.
In an entirely open world, people will build social and physical barriers to entry to separate themselves, just as they did in early towns and spaces.
No doubt – These web 2 media companies have to think out of spectrum as they are struggling to define revenue model. and Hotel / Casino can be good idea but time to think about policing social circle for the good of socializer.
No doubt – These web 2 media companies have to think out of spectrum as they are struggling to define revenue model. and Hotel / Casino can be good idea but time to think about policing social circle for the good of socializer.
Wow, that’s such a good idea! A Facebook Hotel – customized to my every whim and intention. Brilliant as always, Scoble!
Wow, that’s such a good idea! A Facebook Hotel – customized to my every whim and intention. Brilliant as always, Scoble!
On the attack thing (glad you’re back to adding value by the way)…
You have left me with the impression there’s a line between an attack and rigorous debate. And, in the past I recall a pretty healthy discussion about default racism here at The Scobleizer. It all came down to the spirit of the thing. Either the offense was intended or it wasn’t (or some degree thereof). I don’t mind getting taken to the mat EVERY single day provided I know I’m getting a better handle on what I need to be good at and growing/learning from the situation (thinking management and building my business specifically). You seem to be similarly wired.
The “we’re gonna tear someone up” crowd is super easy to disregard (don’t dismiss them lest you become equivalent to the default racist we discussed back in January). Remember Guy Kawasaki’s sage advice, “Don’t let the bozo’s get you down.” You guys have a really good thing going. By that I mean you and Maryam plus (obviously) you and John. Don’t let a bunch of chumps who cross the line do any more harm. We got your back man! Even from tiny little ole Tulsa… we got your back.
And, I know lots of people feel this way… still, it’s nice to hear. Thanks! Thanks for the link blog. Thanks for the interviews and insights. Thanks for thinking of us as friends (even in a Twitter of Facebook kinda way). And, thanks as you put it for adding value. We may not always agree or see eye to eye. That’s probably not a bad thing provided we respect each other and learn something through it all.
On the attack thing (glad you’re back to adding value by the way)…
You have left me with the impression there’s a line between an attack and rigorous debate. And, in the past I recall a pretty healthy discussion about default racism here at The Scobleizer. It all came down to the spirit of the thing. Either the offense was intended or it wasn’t (or some degree thereof). I don’t mind getting taken to the mat EVERY single day provided I know I’m getting a better handle on what I need to be good at and growing/learning from the situation (thinking management and building my business specifically). You seem to be similarly wired.
The “we’re gonna tear someone up” crowd is super easy to disregard (don’t dismiss them lest you become equivalent to the default racist we discussed back in January). Remember Guy Kawasaki’s sage advice, “Don’t let the bozo’s get you down.” You guys have a really good thing going. By that I mean you and Maryam plus (obviously) you and John. Don’t let a bunch of chumps who cross the line do any more harm. We got your back man! Even from tiny little ole Tulsa… we got your back.
And, I know lots of people feel this way… still, it’s nice to hear. Thanks! Thanks for the link blog. Thanks for the interviews and insights. Thanks for thinking of us as friends (even in a Twitter of Facebook kinda way). And, thanks as you put it for adding value. We may not always agree or see eye to eye. That’s probably not a bad thing provided we respect each other and learn something through it all.
I am waiting for clubs to employ facebook to do guestlists for clubs, a bit like events, where you can only get access through your network of friends. I think that would be cool
I am waiting for clubs to employ facebook to do guestlists for clubs, a bit like events, where you can only get access through your network of friends. I think that would be cool
What I want to know is how the FRAK you’re leaving all those crayon drawings on my fridge?!
What I want to know is how the FRAK you’re leaving all those crayon drawings on my fridge?!
I love facebooking. Being that I’m on the road and away from friends a lot, it’s a great way to keep up. I love that I can keep it IN my network, so not to get exposed to stuff I don’t want to know about.
Anyway, about the hotel. Fun idea. These days, it seems we all want everything tailored to our fancy and although we know we can’t always get what we want, the “Facebook Hotel” is one way to go about it. In fact, I could tell them I have a facebook accnt. and they wouldn’t know anything about my “favorite” things. Mostly, because I haven’t filled that part of my profile out, and I’ve been facebooking for 3 years.
I love facebooking. Being that I’m on the road and away from friends a lot, it’s a great way to keep up. I love that I can keep it IN my network, so not to get exposed to stuff I don’t want to know about.
Anyway, about the hotel. Fun idea. These days, it seems we all want everything tailored to our fancy and although we know we can’t always get what we want, the “Facebook Hotel” is one way to go about it. In fact, I could tell them I have a facebook accnt. and they wouldn’t know anything about my “favorite” things. Mostly, because I haven’t filled that part of my profile out, and I’ve been facebooking for 3 years.
I never thought I’d read from Scoble “… I’m starting to delete comments from people who don’t add any value here.”
That’s the cool thing about blogging… It is the ultimate Roman Senate… But if censor the bad comments what does that say about you, the owner of the blog (censoring profaine crap, that’s another story).
I never thought I’d read from Scoble “… I’m starting to delete comments from people who don’t add any value here.”
That’s the cool thing about blogging… It is the ultimate Roman Senate… But if censor the bad comments what does that say about you, the owner of the blog (censoring profaine crap, that’s another story).
I actaully thought it was an interesting concept as well. That said, from a business stand point deleing guests might not be such a good idea (as pleasant as it might feel).
I actaully thought it was an interesting concept as well. That said, from a business stand point deleing guests might not be such a good idea (as pleasant as it might feel).
If you don’t like Facebook, do what grownups do: Either find something you like better, or build something better yourself.
Robert ain’t your frickin’ daddy….
If you don’t like Facebook, do what grownups do: Either find something you like better, or build something better yourself.
Robert ain’t your frickin’ daddy….