Ahh, the patina is shedding off of Facebook.
Looks like the trend I noticed when I was in London talking with Maryam’s niece in December has hit home for Facebook. Is usage down?
My own usage is certainly down. Here’s why:
First, Facebook depresses me. I can’t add new friends, so the “game, er, fun” of Facebook has gone away for me (yes, building my social network was fun for me). Now, I know most of you don’t have that problem, but it does create a retardant effect on the fun of Facebook. It can NOT be a “utility” like a rolodex until it gets rid of all limitations.
But this morning I got a call from someone in France. He was kicked out of Facebook for sending too many messages to his friends. He said he was just chatting with his friends, not doing anything spammy (he only had a handful of friends, he told me). This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this kind of story, I get dozens of such emails every month from people who’ve gotten kicked off the service for not doing too much other than participating in Facebook the way they want.
Anyway, Facebook kicked him off (turned off his account, like they did to me) and now there is no way for him to get added back on. He’s emailed an explanation of what he’s been doing to Facebook. They haven’t answered back. There is no recourse. It’s made more difficult because this guy doesn’t speak English well.
As much as I like Mark Zuckerberg, I can not recommend Facebook to anyone until they fix this problem. There’s ABSOLUTELY NO WAY someone’s account should be deleted without recourse, if Facebook wants to be seen as a utility.
Facebook needs to fix these two problems before I’ll recommend it again to anyone.
One other thing? I’m getting spamish messages on Facebook now because I added hundreds of groups. I’m going to unsubscribe from most of them to keep that from happening. I already have too many attention thieves in my life.
But, to the question of “is Facebook doomed?”
No, it’s not. It still is the best designed, and best performing, social network out there. It fits my idea of what a rolodex, er, address book, should look like. I love the iPhone app. The way it all works. I love seeing photos and videos from my friends.
I just wish Facebook would fix these two problems so I can go back to hyping it up.
What do you think about Facebook? Has the patina worn off for you?
crazy about the guy that was just chatting with his friends?
crazy about the guy that was just chatting with his friends?
[...] Scoble has asked a question that has been in the back of my mind for a little while now:“What do you think about Facebook? Has the patina worn off for you?” [...]
[...] Scoble ruminates about the limitations of Facebook, prompted by figures suggesting usage is falling, and also the experience of himself and [...]
[...] Is Facebook doomed? – [...]
Good Article
Good Article
I still like facebook, especially for connecting with old friends, but I am SO OVER the application requests. If they had a button that let you either not get requests, or delete all in one go, that would be nice.
I still like facebook, especially for connecting with old friends, but I am SO OVER the application requests. If they had a button that let you either not get requests, or delete all in one go, that would be nice.
OMG OMG OMG WTF
I think ure site cursed me! read this last night!
& TODAY FACEBOOK WARNED TO BLOCK ME FOR SPAMMING. & i just reply my friends!
FACEBOOK SUX!!
OMG OMG OMG WTF
I think ure site cursed me! read this last night!
& TODAY FACEBOOK WARNED TO BLOCK ME FOR SPAMMING. & i just reply my friends!
FACEBOOK SUX!!
Love to respond Robert but too busy digging out from under all these cows, drinks, games and…
Love to respond Robert but too busy digging out from under all these cows, drinks, games and…
[...] post, this one by Robert Scoble, talks about what I has just said. Boredom. Also, there has been many people being kicked [...]
[...] Is Facebook doomed? Great article by Robert Scoble [...]
[...] due to popularity (and while NOT running a script) is quite alarming to me (Scoble details it here and here). Scoble also interviewed Nathan Stebeski who recently who got kicked off Facebook for [...]
[...] Robert Scoble asks if Facebook is doomed… [...]
[...] this may not rate as important news. In fact, Scoble had a Feb. 22, 2008 post up on his blog titled Is Facebook Doomed? But there, his issue is primarily one of limits on the number of friends and messages. He still [...]
I hate facebook for the limitations…..my account had been disabled 3 times & i had to make a new account each time…..first time my account was disabled for sending too many msg to my friends…second & third time for sending too many friendship requests & i was only adding the friends i lost from my first account……i dont spam…. i travel alot so i need to change my network each time i move….but facebook has limitations on dat too….all these limitations have to go…..shouldnt the user decide how many friends he wanna make or how many groups he wanna be a part of….whether its 50, 5000 or a 50000…MYSPACE donot have such problems….i totally agree with you…..Facebook need to fix these problems ASAP to be better
I hate facebook for the limitations…..my account had been disabled 3 times & i had to make a new account each time…..first time my account was disabled for sending too many msg to my friends…second & third time for sending too many friendship requests & i was only adding the friends i lost from my first account……i dont spam…. i travel alot so i need to change my network each time i move….but facebook has limitations on dat too….all these limitations have to go…..shouldnt the user decide how many friends he wanna make or how many groups he wanna be a part of….whether its 50, 5000 or a 50000…MYSPACE donot have such problems….i totally agree with you…..Facebook need to fix these problems ASAP to be better
I TRIED TO ADD MANY FRIENDS BUT FACEBOOK GAVE ME WARNING~!!!!!
I TRIED TO ADD MANY FRIENDS BUT FACEBOOK GAVE ME WARNING~!!!!!