I am a big Facebook fan. I like the simplicity of the model; I admire the openness of the platform; and I think Mark Zuckerberg really grasped the natural tendency of humans to affiliate themselves in groups academic professional or social. However when I hear rumors of a $10-15 billion valuation I am immediately reminded of that old Groucho Marx pearl: "I refuse to be a member of any club that will have me."
Perhaps Groucho got it right. My own experience suggests he did. I abandoned Linked-in as soon as too many people joined trying to sell me things; I emigrated from MySpace when the site began bombarding me with ads. Will efforts to commercialize Facebook to recoup a $10+ billion valuation ruin the service? If yes there will be a long list of new momentarily exclusive clubs to take its place.
So with apologies to the mustachioed master I posit the Groucho 2.0 Rule: "I refuse to participate in any social networking service that seeks to capitalize on my membership."
Caveat emptor
First just wanted to say “great blog Tom.” It has an appealing layout features and content. After the Tomson-Reuters merger I’ve subscribed to your blog in my Google Reader account and have been reading it ever since. I have been very anti-MySpace for quite awhile and when facebook first came out was skeptical. However after finally giving in and trying it out at the recommendation of others I was very impressed. As a software developer I appreciated the quality work and thought that went into the system. The relationships and user content are what drive a social networking site not the ability to change themes and have music play when a profile loads. The recent influx of “custom applications” in facebook has started to clutter its once clean approach. Hopefully the trend does not continue with the commercialization that you speak of. Thanks for the blog and openness in your communication. Cheers! Ryan
Tom At the risk of trying to sell you something you might like to try Finextra Communities. It’s a professional networking site created specifically for people in the financial technology industry. The comunity is gated and open only to bonafide fintech professionals. It’s free there are no ads and our T&Cs expressly forbid any solicitation.
Groucho 2.0.01 Rule: “I open my own blog to outsiders who may wish to capitalize by this access to me to sell me on ideas.” I have one…and I’d like to sell it to you. It’s all about youth engagement in business and society through that medium they love and which REUTERS is now embracing. I call it BZZZCLIP . I am a Montrealer. ebonder@emage-media.com
Hello Tom Great blog site. Thought I would share one of my fav quotes with you. From one hard charging finance exec to another. Best- Michael Nelson nyc Man in the Arena- “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood who strives valiantly who errs and comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error or shortcoming but who knows the great enthusiasms the great devotions who spends himself for a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least he fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” “Citizenship in a Republic” Speech at the Sorbonne Paris April 23 1910
Culpa in contrahendo! Sometimes it is interesting to see how other civilizations have historically engaged in negotiation. Perhaps the existing financial crisis could lead to a different attitude towards who bears the guaranty but as long as America rules the market this might only be wishful thinking. Cheers my roman friend