Friday, October 26, 2007

Facebook

Yesterday when Microsoft picked up a stake in Facebook, there was a lot of talk about how a 3-year-old company was valued at $ 15 billion & became the most expensive internet start-up.

I'm an avid Facebooker & I think its a brilliant concept: not just as a networking site or as a business idea, but as a platform for creativity.

I continue to be amazed by the hundreds of new tools that young "college-students-cum-entrepreneurs" come up with everyday on Facebook. I read somewhere that the makers of one of the Facebook applications (was it "The Super Wall"?) are millionaires in their own right.

Its like a beauty contest for creativity; and that makes it fantastic.

21 comments:

Lotus Reads said...

Am I the only one without a Facebook account? Must go remedy that immediately!!!

Parth said...

@Lotus: No, count me in as well :-) Now that my company is heavily investing there, maybe I should change that :-)

Anonymous said...

this isn't related your Facebook post(although I'm happy with whatever little part the MS deal might've played in the stock price :).

just wanted to compliment you on your poetry. you write very well.

- aditi

Happy Reader said...

Facebook?? Never heard of that!! I should go check...

Radha said...

Lotus,
You should, although I recently heard this funny story about a mom adding her daughter on her facebook & finding out all sorts of things about her daughter's "other-life-with-friends" :) It can get wierd!

Parth,
you're at MS?

Aditi,
Thanks **blushing, blushing** :)

Happy Reader,
Hi, well its a networking site primararily like MySpace or Orkut, but one cn do a lot of stuff with friends like share photos, movie reviews, book recommendations, play online scrabble, buy virtual drinks....its silly, but its fun :)

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

networking sites and the concept of six degrees of separation has taken world by storm ......let alone Microsoft!!!

AlterinG Abhishek said...

i thought Linkedin was abtter idea!!

:)
hi!!

Radha said...

Moi,
Thats true!

Altering Abhshek,
Umm, LinkedIn is not the same category at all...although LinkedIn is also a networking site, its a completely different concept. Dont you think so?

Unknown said...

That's why i like Facebook more than orkut.They have released their applications APIs to work on and it provides chance to enhance or contribute for new applications.

Radha said...

Yogsma,
my point exactly :)

Al Nims Media said...

From the privacy perspective, Facebook is pretty scary. Nonetheless, heard this at a tech meet recently:

Q: How do you make your teenage daughter quit Facebook?

A: Send her a friend request!

Radha said...

Kishor,
Thats true. But one doesn't put really private stuff on facebook anyways...apart from one's email.

Lotus Reads said...

Hi again Radha, lol, that is exactly what I am afraid of! ;)

@Parth~ I'm very tempted to get on Facebook, seems like the whole world (with the exception of a few of us) is on there! Ahh, so you work with Microsoft? :)

suramya said...

facebook is a world I'm still exploring, some of the applications are really great.

* said...

Hello Jaani. I must say a lot has been going on in your life, and I have missed out on some lovely posts and poems I may add.
But here I am and even tho I have not commented on them , I have read quite a few and enjoyed them.
I actually was forced to open a facebook account (my friend wanted me to see her daughter's shaadi pix). Suddenly a whole lot of people found out about me. Dunno how tho and I got a truckload of advice as I am totally clueless how to operate it.Toba! Blogging kya kaafi nahi hai. I have been so bad at that too lately.
Anyhow so how do I add you to facebook then?

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

Was reading this today...and immediately thought of your post..
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/
technology/04digi.html?th&emc=th

KAD said...

So I missed this post..guess it had to do with me travelling at the same time. Do I like Facebook? No. Do I want to be on Facebook? Yes. Else I am a social outcast. Now till the world is full of "do i want to" and "i want to" people, Facebook will reap more than it can sow. They should have gone public..I would have loved to see a social networking site go public and how the markets would react to such a thing. After all, how do they still make money is a mystery to me.

Radha said...

Lotus,
:)

Suramya,
Same here. Megstar & I both love playing scrabble & the other day someone sent an invite for this application called 'scrabulous'. its so incredible that we can play scrabble together on facebook; she sitting in NYC & me in Singapore :)

Kaya,
Where have you been? Let me look you up on facebook!

Kanishka,
Well, the Microsoft stock price did shoot up when the news of its stake in Facebook went public. Personally, I think the opportunities from a platform like facebook are immense. There is so much personal information people put into their facebook profiles....their wishlists, their travel plans, movie tastes, events, etc....its an ideal place for any targeted marketing activity.

Radha said...

Moi,
Thanks for posting the article. Quite interesting.

diyadear said...

hmm..im hooked to orkut.. will try facebook too some time :)

Radha said...

Diya,
Hey, welcome back! How did your vacation go?