New Blog Hotness (And Another Baby Update)
My posts now automatically appear on my Facebook feed. This kinda kills the point of Facebook's new reorganization. I've read that the reason they changed things yet again was to compete with Twitter, a program that lets you quickly update your status any time. I don't "tweet," at least not yet, but if I'm going to make announcements online I'm more likely to do it through my blog anyway. Now that my blog is connected to Facebook, I'm much less likely to use the Facebook status update feature any more.
Why would I choose to spend extra time for a blog plugin to suplant functionality that's built into a website I already use? Two reasons: first, it's the network effect. (Hint: it's the same reason why we use QWERTY keyboards.) Second, my blog has way more functionality than the Facebook status update, even the new updated version. Third, I already have a loyal following on my blog, which includes a lot of people who are unlikely to keep track of me on Facebook. Bottom line: my blog is better and Facebook can't compete.
The good news from Facebook's perspective is that they don't care. They're not trying to compete with full-featured blogs like Wordpress, and they're definitely not targeting uber-nerds like me who maintain their own websites. Facebook is targeting the simpler, faster, easier market currently held by Twitter. Facebook has the advantage of already being a very strong, tightly-knit social network which a lot of people use not only to communicate, but also to keep track of friends, family, and acquaintances. They're perfectly happy to let the nerdly minority tool around in our own corner of the internet and write plugins for Facebook.
In fact, the Facebook app that lets me put my blog posts on Facebook is another facet of Facebook's formula for success. One of the biggest reasons for Facebook's victory over older and better-established social networking sites (like MySpace and Friendster) was their early support for third-party "applications" that run on their site. Every time a third party writes an app for Facebook, it benefits Facebook. They had to trade control over quality in exchange for increased creativity and a more active user base. It was a trade that MySpace and Friendster were hesitant to make, but it turned out to be a good move. As a result, I can have my blog entries automatically posted on Facebook, and everybody wins.
Bottom line: You now have a new way to keep up with my blog, all within the comfort of your own Facebook home page.
J<
PS: Nathan laughed for the first time today. See? It pays to read through all of Jordan's yammering.
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