I think Facebook is about to reach a very critical point in its development. It needs to answer a very basic question: Does it want to be needed or loved as a brand and as a service? I always pondered this question back in the good old days of AOL’s development. Is it a fun, community-based service that is free and aside of one’s life focused on one-to-one communications and chat? Or is it a utility that becomes a front page and starting point for its customers who pay with time and click streams and live their life on the Net? Is it consumer based or more of a B-to-B platform for others to reach consumers? Very few franchises get to be BOTH needed and loved.
There is a new casual gaming network in town that’s got some serious cross-platform chops. Don’t be fooled by the cutesy graphics. Today, Mytopia is simultaneously launching across Facebook, Bebo, MySpace (currently pending approval) and its own Web site with eight games (chess, backgammon, sudoku, dominoes, bingo, spades, hearts and video poker). On Monday, it will release the same games across the major Web and desktop widgets: iGoogle Gadgets, Apple Dashboard Widgets, Yahoo Widgets and Windows Vista Toolbar Widgets.
When is a social network NOT a social network? When it’s part of Ning’s 200,000 social networks! Give me a break, Gina and Marc! STOP bragging about how many people have clicked and created a network. How come you have NEVER posted anything on: how many networks have five or more people in them? How ’bout 50 people in them? Or 500 people? Bragging about 200,000 networks with one person in them is absurd. And I don’t even care if they’re porno networks or not! But they’re NOT networks if there are less than what? Five? 10? 25 in them? You’re obviously pimping yourself up for a sale. Give us all a break–please!
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