inputs/outputs

As a follow up to my post on LinkedIn, I have an idea for a cool Facebook Application.  You select two or more of your friends that don’t know each other and dump them into a shopping cart of some sort.  You’ll write info about how they will be relevant/useful to each other, and hit submit.  All of the selected friends will get an email “introducing” them to the others, and they’ll see your little blurb about why they’ve been introduced.

We could call it “indirect friend requests.”

What do you think?  This could be useful if you’re putting someone in touch with a contact a company to which they are applying, or if I’m interested in Latvian Folk Music and you happen to have a Latvian friend, etc.

I still remember when the Facebook wall was a free-for-all.  You could read/write whatever you pleased, just like a wiki.  When it became a message board, I was slightly disappointed; I thought the original idea was a lot more unique.  Nonetheless, I wouldn’t trade it back at this point.

Whenever Facebook has a new roll out, my Friend list goes into a frenzy and starts posting the hate-statuses.  Occasionally, I’ll even notice someone joining a group petition against the new facebook.

The truth is, though, that we grow into the new functionality.  We didn’t understand the point of the wall at first, but now we have extensive discussions through them.

We didn’t see the point of Notes, but their presence on Facebook (as a blog with a built-in RSS audience) has given many people a reason to write.

We thought statuses were a weird idea at first, but we’re using them to complain about the new Facebook.

The mini-feed was creepy until we realized that we could turn off the updates, or at least be mindful of its existance before posting a status or changing a profile (or even using it to our benefit).

We hated the chaotic layout that appeared with the birth of Applications, but we now hate the fact that everything isn’t on the same page anymore.

From my perspective, Facebook has a really simple objective in terms of its user experience:  be a social network and give users as much flexibility as possible for the amount of information they disseminate, as well as how and where the information is disseminated.  For instance, my friends can see what movies I’m renting whenever I update my Blockbuster Q, but I still haven’t heard an e-peep out of some of my friends/relatives.  But they have their phone number & email listed, and I can see what they’re up to in some capacity, so that’s their preferred level of Social-Networky-ness.  Just like being at a party and seeing the difference between the social butterfly and the person who stays close to 2-3 friends, Facebook is always increasing the user’s ability to become more social.

Of course, the more they do this, the more messy the layout become.   It grows over time until it’s impossible to have a functioning site without doing a little clean-up.  And around every turn, whether Facebook is cluttering or de-cluttering, there are a bunch of users waiting to be annoyed.  Cyclical and pointless.