social networking Archive

My Own Memo to Zuckerberg: Don't Listen to Any of Us

Just wrapping up my morning of blog reading-- amid a flurry of radio interviews-- and I saw Kara's memo to Zuckerberg. I think she made some good points. Particularly about the pressure he'll get if he turns down a Microsoft offer and the point that there's nothing "basic" about whether Facebook should sell. As this news of Facebook traffic falling spreads, the "sell! sell! sell!" drumbeat Kara refers to is only going to grow louder.

So here's my own memo to Mark: On the very off chance you are reading any of this, stop. Don't listen to any of us. It's your company. It's your vision. If we knew what was best for Facebook, we wouldn't be bloggers and reporters. You've gotten this far without us.

I Still Don't See Microsoft Buying Facebook

Or more to the point, I don't see Facebook selling. New fears by John Furrier and Robert Scoble remind me of that "Googlezon" video that was making its way around the Web several years ago. You remember, we all watched it and shuddered and thought, "That could totally happen!" It didn't. And it looks sillier the farther we get from it.

A lot of things could "totally" happen, and there's nothing particularly wrong with Scoble's logic. Except that Facebook doesn't want to sell, Mark Zuckerberg hasn't even been in the U.S. for weeks, and I'd be stunned if Facebook's end goal was really to break the Web. (Can't vouch for that EVIL EVIL Microsoft!) There are always rumors in the valley, but I simply haven't heard this from a credible source.

Hey Look! My First Snarky Review!

From the San Francisco Chronicle. His main critique is that my title is misleading because I don't write about every single company in Silicon Valley. Wow. There are thousands of Web 2.0 companies, and frankly, most of them not that interesting. Even I wouldn't want to read that book. I wonder if he had a problem with Moneyball only being about the A's when the subtitle refers broadly to baseball? It's definitely a new one as critiques go, but Mr. Banks I am sorry to mislead you so.

And per the critique that the title doesn't apply to Jay or Zuckerberg, I'm not sure you got what the title means and reflects in terms of an overall Valley mindset. Quite possibly my bad. Jay took a company public that was worth more than $1 b. and is still in business today. That's actually considered a "win" in the Valley. Netscape ultimately was beat my Microsoft, so not sure if you're going to not count one you should probably not count both. [UPDATE: Marc sent me a note point out this was unfair. Microsoft "won" because of a monopoly, and AOL bought Netscape for a pretty penny.  I just meant a lot of huge wins aren't necessarily huge, profitable brands years later. But that doesn't take away the "win." It came out wrong though.] And the point re: Zuckerberg was he benefited from the phenomenon by being mentored by people trying to prove their second time; hence Facebook's financial structure and the reason Zuck has been able to hold onto such control.

But, my snarking back to him aside, they're valid points. What truly stunned me was this:

"Lacy portrays Adelson and Rose's mutual "man-crush" with good humor and relish, in a way that seems possible only because she is a woman. Despite their ritualistic grumblings about the media, the numerous men Lacy interviews have no trouble opening up to her over crepes at Ti Couz or drinks at the Fly Bar."

Wow. Usually it's only snarky gossip bloggers or anonymous Twitters that are comfortable being so outright sexist. Way to go, Mr. Banks! I applaud your absolute lack of a filter or political correctness! Of course, it could just be because I've been a business reporter in the Valley for ten years and built a lot of sources, but no, no you're right. It's because I'm a girl. 

The $)$

Here's the link to my interview on CNET's "The 404" [or $)$ when you accidentally push shift, hence the headline. I'm now hoping that becomes a hot new code word for the show.] I tried to embed it, but had problems. I know, I know: FAIL!

I had never listened to The 404, but I loved being on it. Even if you don't want to listen to ME talk about my book and Tech Ticker and SXSW (groan) again, you should click because the guys are really entertaining and do a great job.

I don't know why I sound so loud. Oh wait, because it's me. Anyway, enjoy!

Why Henry Is Wrong about Facebook....AGAIN

Here's the link to his post. And I'll just let my morning Tech Ticker piece speak for itself.

The Saving-Lives Effect of Web 2.0

Interesting news today both about the role that Twitter played in the Chinese earthquake. Twitter-a-holic Robert Scoble claims that Twitter had news before the United States Geological Survey, the body that doles out early warnings of such events. Not surprising the blogosphere is abuzz with the news and a lot of former doubters, now wonder if Twitter isn't as superficial as they once thought.

It's interesting how many times some life-saving or deeply human application of Web technology is the turning point in public opinion that it's mainstream. We saw this most recently with Facebook's role in communicating about the Virginia Tech killings and its role in organizing Columbian protests. I'm trying to think of other specific examples and it seems they have more to do with the Web or text messaging in general than specific companies, which could lend credence to the theory that social networking really is a new platform, or the new "operating system" of the Web. (Are there other examples I'm forgetting? Thinking there was probably a Skype version of this...)

But more than that, I think it underscores the real power of Web 2.0 sites. They're all about connection and communication. A big theme of my book is that this wave of Web companies won't produce as many large public companies as the 1990s did, but will produce far more socially transformative ones. I think these little examples are just the beginning, particularly outside the U.S. where rapid, mass communication isn't a matter of telling readers what Steve Jobs just said at MacWorld, but saving lives. Interesting fact I learned in Israel: The government uses SMS messages to alert people when bombs are launched, giving them crucial seconds to take cover.

You wonder if, in the future, it may done using Twitter. Of course, that puts far more pressure on Twitter to stay online than even the tech elite have been heaping on the company of late. (If that's possible!)

Classmates.com? More Like NoSecurity.com!

I usually try to write about sites I've used and, true confession, I've never used Classmates.com. Neither has my husband, Geoff. Nor has his friend Michelle. Maybe we should tell Classmates.com that.

For at least two years Geoff and Michelle have been getting weekly emails from Classmates.com addressed to "Gayle" and "Mary." (Both Gayle and Mary had the same respective last names of Geoff and Michelle.)  They assumed it was spam. But last week, in a fit of boredom at work Geoff decided to test it. So he went to the site, and sure enough it greeted "Gayle." He said he (or she?) had forgotten his (or her?) password. Classmates sent Gayle/Geoff the password. No security question. He went back to the site, logged in and could see all of Gayle's personal information. Same thing for Mary/Michelle. He forwarded me the link and I could pull it up on my computer-- without even entering her user name and password. The site and profile appeared to all of us to be legit.