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Facebook Opening Up For The Public

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the getting-to-know-you-getting-to-know-all-about-you dept.

Krishna Dagli writes to mention a BusinessWeek article about a move by Facebook to open up to the public. Up until now, in order to join Facebook you had to be an alumnus from certain High Schools, Colleges, or companies. Soon, individuals living in any one of 500 'geographic regions' can sign up. From the article: "People who joined Facebook because it was primarily a school-focused network may feel that it's losing a key distinction. As with the 'news feed' announcement, reception to this overhaul will come down to how well Facebook communicates. For the average student at New York University, for instance, little changes. The only people who can browse his profile before were other NYU students and that will stay the same. The change simply allows for 500 new groups to form that all operate independently on the Facebook platform. No one can browse all 9 million registered users." Update: 09/12 16:29 GMT by Z : Fixed latin conjugation. Mrs. Tomlinson would be so proud.

6 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Humor by SirLestat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Look at what I found just this morning, what a coincidence: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1707663. That is also why I try not put any personal information on the web.

  2. Let the Stalking Begin by Deinhard · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm much removed from the social networking sites such as FaceBook (by time) and MySpace (by desire) but it seemed to me that the main advantage of FaceBook was that it was a relatively safe place for HS and College students to meet and interact.

    Now, with the addition of millions of potential users, it seems (as others have said) that the site should become MyFaceBook.

    Why can't site operators (even those that pay millions for established market share) realize that they can make a reasonable profit within niche markets? That was the entire purpose behind the original "Virtual Community" concept of the late 90s. People can belong to multiple niches and can receive targeted messages based on the site they are currently visiting.

    I could keep moaning and bitching, but it would just lead to a rant...

    --
    Successfully condensing fact from the vapor of nuance since 1998.
  3. Replace Facebook by dorango · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A group of students decided to replace Facebook with a student built and operated site... If Facebook really has lost touch with its userbase, perhaps these guys can offer a decent alternative to MySpace/Facebook for students. http://digg.com/software/Outraged_Students_Replace _Facebook I signed up, it's a little low on features, but they've only had a week. I think it's something to keep an eye on. -Dorango

  4. Facebook's lost touch with its users by BASICman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's beyond me wy Facebook is doing something like this a a week after pissing of at least a ninth of its active membership. Last week browising all the outrage groups that sprung up, many people said that they felt the site lost its way when it let High School students join. While allowing outside access to Facebook is quite clearly the best buisness route to take, the question that comes up is whether or not it alienates its original niche? The immediate answer is no; college sutdents still will use Facebook. But what Facebook fails to remember is that college students (and society in general) are fickle. While you may have them all today, if you make a series of wrong moves and then something (better?) comes along, they'll all ditch you like roadkill.

    --
    An enlightenment painter would paint a grand house on a lawn; A romantic painter would paint it on fire.
  5. Re:We don't need another Myspace by OakDragon · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The beauty of Facebook was that it was somewhat of a closed community where people were on the same level, if you will. College is a society on its own and Facebook allows the sharing of a lot of commonalities and close-knit ties with people in your campus as well as others.

    I think you hit the nail on the head here. (I know you're right; you agree with me!) This is the way I have observed college students using Facebook. (I haven't been a student for a few years, but I know some.) I think this might actually hurt Facebook in the long run. Call it over-reaching, feature creep or what have you. Companies often kill the golden-egged goose because they begin to want silver and ruby eggs, too.

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    Dark Reflection
  6. Re:No more open than it was before by Quaoar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Funny story:

    We were looking for a room-mate to replace a roomie of mine who was moving out. We post an ad on Craigslist, this dude responds and comes over to meet us. Everything seems fine...the guy is nice, polite, seems like he would have no problem playing the rent...

    We tell the guy that we'll probably let you move in, but we have to talk to our other room-mate first to make sure he was cool with it (he wasn't home at the time). On a hunch, I type in the guy's name on Google...

    First hit turns up a lot of dirt. Turns out the guy was a full-fledged lawyer, but had his bar certification stripped for multiple counts of fraud, perjury, filing false documents, etc etc. In addition, the guy starred in a soft-core gay porn that came out about 6 months prior. We promptly called the guy back and told him the room had been rented to someone else...

    So I guess the lesson is, the Internet can completely ruin your reputation, and close doors where you wouldn't expect it to.

    --
    I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!