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I don't think Facebook is a "Internet OS" or "Social OS" as Liz Gannes wrote. It overlooks the really important aspect of Facebook of communications. It is this aspect of Facebook that excites me with the possibilities. From my perspective communications will always win over content. Consider how many people use IM/Email versus reads a blog or watches any particular movie.
I see Facebook as a social communications platform. Even without having to continually email/txt/IM you stay in contact with your friends simply by the use of the service. It is like being in a huge room with all your friends. You may be talking and doing something with specific people but you can still keep an eye on what your other friends are doing.
Facebook's strength lies in how it allows you to manage and stay in contact with your friends. The more firmly Facebook promotes the strength of this communication through new tools and other controls will only strengthen Facebook. Integrating communications methods such as IM and SMS more firmly into the platform will only strengthen the usage of the platform. In fact I could easily see Facebook becoming a pre-eminent presence service as well. I wouldn't be surprised if some bright spark wrote an agent based on the Facebook platform that allows you to control and route all your communications.
Simon
Another way to look at it is WAYN could build the travel specific aspects of their specific niche social network around the social communication features of Facebook.
I think nic is right on the fact that facebook could not be an OS. they surely are building a great plateform (which will, by the way, benefit mainly the us industry)
Facebook will be one channel for distribution, that's for sure (distribution matters and Nic will agree on that one) but I am the only one in my freinds listening to contemporary music. I need last.fm or U-lik to find partners for it. It's the same thing with photography, i don't want to talk about camera but about the work of Goldworthy.
http://club.u-lik.com/Andy+Goldsworthy
Simon - couldn't agree with you more, comms are definitely the most important app and they are where Facebook is strong. That is only one aspect of the web though. I am also wondering now how it will all scale - status updates on all my friends might be too much. A bit like the twitter problem.
Raphael - the question for companies such as U-Lik and Last.fm is the extent to which they start to live totally inside apps like Facebook. Do you think?
Scaling (of people's networks) is interesting problem. I've notice they already have included the ability to exclude people from your news feed. I think they need to extend that to allow you to specify the "friendiness" of a connection e.g. is this a close friend, acquaintance, business contact, colleague.
Facebook - along with all the other general purpose SocNets - are just a new version of Yahoo Groups etc with more bling and pictures. They are a part of the broadband 'Net, but we all do a lot more with the 'Net than just this.