Analyst asks: Facebook on the down and out thanks to applications?

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 17 June 2008 16:58

Business IT - Networking

Mitchell implies the current user interface revamp being carried out by Facebook is a distraction - fiddling while Rome burns, if you like - from what the company really needs to do.

In his book, that's providing an incentive for quality applications that deliver real personal or business value, while removing or blocking the rubbish.

"This may sound draconian but I have had too many poorly behaved applications run amuck and send invites across my whole social network, despite me clicking the 'Don't Invite' buttons, for me to be comfortable" without stringent testing for trustworthiness, says Mitchell.

If some Facebook applications ran on the desktop, they would be classified as viruses, he suggests. You don't need to be Einstein (or even a Harvard scholar) to see this is a serious problem.

While Facebook was arguably the first general-purpose social network to break out of the web-generation ghetto and attract older users (LinkedIn was always aimed at a professional market), according to Mitchell a glut of badly-behaved applications could be leading to its downfall.

"Without improvements along these lines, I (for one) am close to the point of seeing insufficient continued utility in Facebook to persevere in using it."

So Facebook has been warned: clear out the 'crap apps, or your future could be cooked!