ComputerWorld 7/17 The five stages of Facebook grief: (Thanks, Bob)
Facebook's popularity is based on the reality that human beings are social creatures. Staying connected with people we know is innate to us. But maintaining separate social groups that we don't want to clash is also innate. ... The social network of the future will pattern itself after real-world social groupings. It will enable people to have private, closed, secure conversations within groups, without fear that one social group will gain access to the conversations of another.
NYT 5/11 Four Nerds and a Call to Arms Against Facebook:
As they describe it, the Diaspora* software will let users set up their own personal servers, called seeds, create their own hubs and fully control the information they share. Mr. Sofaer says that centralized networks like Facebook are not necessary. “In our real lives, we talk to each other,” he said. “We don’t need to hand our messages to a hub. What Facebook gives you as a user isn’t all that hard to do. All the little games, the little walls, the little chat, aren’t really rare things. The technology already exists.”
NPR 7/21 Facebook Ripped in Consumer Satisfaction Survey:
A new report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index ranks the top 30 social media sites. Facebook, which now has some 500 million members, emerged as a surprise loser. In the survey, users complained about privacy concerns, interface changes, navigation problems, and advertising.
Facebook scored a measly 64 on the scale of one to 100. That's lower than an IRS site.
Topping the list of satisfying social media sites, the collaborative online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
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And in case you haven't heard, some guy might have a legitimate case to 84% of Facebook:
According to the claim, Paul Ceglia hired Zuckerberg in 2003 to help him design an online database of street photos, and reportedly signed a contract with the Facebook founder that would give him a 50 percent stake in Zuckerberg's side project—"an online yearbook for Harvard kids" that he was "thinking of expanding." Because of a "contract provision that awarded [Ceglia] equity the longer [Zuckerberg] worked on the site," the former wood pellet distributor claims that he's legally entitled to 84 percent of Facebook.
