This is why Facebook is going down the toilet

August 15th 2007 | Tell us what you think [ 0 comments ]

Facebook was the best social networking site on the web - but is it getting worse?

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Why is it that we don't always recognise the moment whenlove begins, but we always know when it ends?

It's a real shame. Facebook, I fear, is starting to slip down the infamous slideyslope towards inevitable internet web death. Just as MySpace before it was considered cool and exciting at one point, Facebook is now becoming so big andbloated that it risks losing sight of everything it once stood for.

There are four key factors that made Facebook so good in theearly days. And unfortunately, those good points are being slowly eroded away.Here is what immediately appealed to the MySpace generation when Facebook firstlaunched.

1. It doesn't list how many friends you have on your profilefront page. This is great because it means you don't get stupid peoplecompeting to see who can get more friends and then boast about it on theirpages. You only need add people you actually know. And no one can see your pageunless you let them.

2. There is no HTML modification possible. There are so manyugly MySpace profiles out there, as to make it a disgusting and repulsive siteto look at. But Facebook has always been clean cut, with plenty of tidy whitespace.

3. The news feeds enable you to keep an eye on what yourmates are doing without having to go to each person's page. This makes a visitto Facebook very easy, because you can log on and all new activity is displayedon one page.

4. There are no music pages. This means that you don't gethundreds of rubbish student wannabe rock bands adding you as a friend every tenseconds. Heaven!

But unfortunately, new features in Facebook are starting todestroy these core plus points, and the rot has well and truly set in. And theproblem? It's the Facebook apps which are bursting the Facebook bubble. Andhere's why:

1. "Top Friends" apps and the like now display how manyfriends you have. And the more teenagers who join Facebook, the more you getpeople adding you as a friend just for the sheer hell of it. It's annoying, andit's not what this site is supposed to be about. Smells like MySpace.

2. Facebook apps make each page look too busy and very cluttered.How many different Wall's do you need? There's your main profile wall, there'sCool Walls, Fun Walls, Art Walls, Graphiti Walls etc. It's too much. It looksugly. Smells like MySpace.

3. The Facebook apps, and our increasing usage of them, meanthat it's much harder to keep track of people on your news feed. Who cares ifJeremy Bloatfish has added the 'Testicular Cancer Awareness' application?Again, too cluttered. Smells like MySpace.

4. MySpace's band adds have now made an appearance onFacebook. Not in the form of music acts, but in the form of cancerouschainmail-style applications like Pirates and Zombies. I don't want to getbitten by Zombies or recruited by Pirates. That serves no purpose. It's themost annoying thing ever. Smells so much like MySpace!

Introducing third-party apps was a grave mistake by Facebook in my opinion, and I think the experiment should be ended. OtherwiseFacebook accounts will be abandoned in their millions, just like what hashappened to MySpace. You might as well just blend the two sites together and call it MybookSpaceFace.

Martin James only signed up to Facebook last week and he'salready thinking about closing his account. This just won't do.

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