David Armano (of the incredible “Logic + Emotion” blog) offered up this Twitter entry on Labor Day:

“just uploaded a pic of my newly created tree stump on FB. I didn’t want to do it, but the storm got the best of it…”

My response?

“are you using the new Stumpy! Application for Facebook? Or will I be able to view it on DebrisMaster..?“

Sadly, Facebook has become its own parody.

The Defining Question

Welcome to the billion dollar question, and it’s the Social Media version of the Chicken and the Egg:

“Does the Application host the Network? Or does the Network host the Application?”

Let me explain, using Facebook as an example. Facebook doesn’t build “community,” it reconnects existing relationships. You can’t “join” the Upton High class of 1989, any more than you can dress up in a Yankee uniform and expect to split time with A-Rod. The advantage is you can quickly hit critical mass and draw the flock to membership. Conversely, the flock can fly the moment another shiny object flashes into view.

I’m not yet impressed by the growth in Facebook membership, because we’re about to lose the shine on the toy. All the new apps and the openness has been fun, but when it comes right down to it your Profile page is a virtual bonsai tree. It’s cute, it’s cool, and it squeezes a lot into a little space – but it takes forever to keep pruning, it’s expensive (on your time), and it is guaranteed to die when you stop feeding it. And that’s exactly what is happening. I quit feeding my page a while back. I’m tired of turning down invites to applications, and I don’t want to take sides in Zombies vs. Vampires. If I’m going to participate in multi-level marketing, I want actual financial compensation and not just a badge for my website.

At one point, I had a Wall, an Advanced Wall, and a Mega Wall – all so various friends of mine could write me virtual graffiti. All I needed was a fourth wall to keep all the invite crap at bay.

Facelift? or About Face?

A year from now, will these same people be playing with Facebook? Or will they abandon the platform with the same gusto that they now shed applications? Can a platform like Facebook with so many disposable elements avoid becoming disposable by association? In five years, what will differentiate it from Classmates.com?

I’ve been a part of a number of online communities. The successful ones are those that add value to the conversation and to the relationships, by virtue of allowing members a chance to do something different. The successful ones evolve and take on a character and syntax of their own. In that regard, they are a microcosm of successful businesses in a service economy. Don’t just sell me a product. Sell me a lifestyle. Sell me membership in an exclusive club. Let me be your customer evangelist.

Facebook’s challenge is in staying relevant to its core. I don’t buy the argument that today’s Sophomores will bail because their parents now have profiles and FB has lost its cool. Rather, all the extraneous “stuff” required to make it the Internet Swiss Army Knife also makes it exceedingly distracting. Kids used to spend an hour or so on Facebook connecting with classmates, sometimes for reasons associated with learning. Now they can spend that amount of time just keeping up with messages they could have gotten sooner elsewhere, turning down applications, or playing Tower Defense.

Trivial Pursuits

Facebook is currently a Network of people supporting a closed platform with an API that is way too open. Build a better ‘Facebook’ with a higher ratio of signal-to-noise, and the world will beat a path to your portal. Otherwise, this could happen to you:

(actual screen capture from Ike’s Facebook page)

Seriously.

Somewhere, in the middle of C.a. Marks‘ installation of “Free Gifts” and Allan Jenkins‘ acquisition of the Interactive Friends Graph, Lee Hopkins found the time to get married. Good on ya, mate!  (Come to think of it, “getting married” is at the intersection of interacting with friends and free gifts…)