fatvegan

Kottke thinks that the internet is the new Facebook, and that one day the internet will surpass Facebook in users and functionality. The idea is that if Facebook is about networking, then the internet at large will do a far better job.

It's a good idea, but I have to disagree. Facebook's value isn't the network. As Kottke points out, we already have a network called the internet. Anyone can write applications for it. Any of those applications can talk to most of the other applications. But Facebook has still added enormous "value" over what existed. The value of Facebook is in the possibilities it restricts and not in the possibilities it provides. Its value is in the consistency it can offer. My impression of people is that they prefer to use a consistent application that gives them what they expect, more than they want optimal solutions to their needs.

Facebook didn't build any new infrastructure or overcome some technical barrier. It doesn't do anything that wasn't entirely possible 10 years ago. It has just taken that long to get a system that people want to use. Who knows if Facebook will still be around in 5 years? Even if it isn't, right now it is probably the best designed and maintained application of its kind. People don't want optimal networks - they want networks they can understand. The hard bit isn't creating the underlying network as much as presenting in to people in a nice way. Facebook is certainly sub-optimal from an engineering perspective, but that doesn't seem to have mattered.

Disclaimer: I have a Facebook account, but think the whole thing is pretty silly.