Facebook profile URLs

So, Facebook is going to land on the moon in a few hours.

But the thing that strikes me as weirdest of all is that after years of insisting that people only use their real names on Facebook, they've now set up a system where it will be virtually impossible for most people to do that, even if they want to.

If I cared more about Facebook, I'd have more to say about this.

I wish this period of the Internet would end, it's so exactly like AOL. I've seen this show before, I know how it ends. Only this time there won't be a Time-Warner to cash them out.

Anil Dash:

June 13, 12:15am: A first wave of "It's alive! Go get your name!" posts go up on various technology blogs, noting that the service is running a little bit slow. None of these posts mention that you can also register a real domain name that you can own, instead of just having another URL on Facebook.

Jun 12 2009 • by Marc Ermshaus • language=en type=link facebook rants • 0 comments

Facebook in a crowd

Facebook in a crowd. Hal Neidzviecki invited his ~700 Facebook friends to meet him at a bar. (via 3qd)

"Fifteen people said they were attending, and 60 said maybe. A few hundred said not, and the rest just ignored the invitation altogether. I figured that about 20 people would show up."

The assumption proved to be a bit optimistic.

"I raised my glass in a solitary toast and promised myself I’d spend less time online. Then I took a gulp: the beer was delicious but bittersweet. Seven hundred friends, and I was drinking alone."

The article illustrates two points: The term "friend" in the context of online networks is greatly hyperbolic and "maybe" is one option too many. (You saw that one coming, didn't you?)

Oct 25 2008 • by Marc Ermshaus • language=en type=link halneidzviecki jeffreyzeldman facebook socialweb • 0 comments