Facebook Opening Up For The Public

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.

Comments

Humor

[SirLestat]

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.

Let the Stalking Begin

[Deinhard]

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...

Replace Facebook

[dorango]

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

Re:We don't need another Myspace

[OakDragon]

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.