have social networks taken over from websites?

KIPAX

KIPAX

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KIPAX Lancashire UK
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It would seem more an more people restrict themselves to facebook and dont surf the web or seek out peoples websites. Forums are still thriving but are personal websites when you get more coverage on your facebook page?

I am convinced some people think facebook is the www and dont know or see any point in anyhting else.. The more new users that arrive online who go straight to social networks simply don't know any better.

Is it the way forward? is the www dying as we know it?
 
No. In addition to social networking sites what about:

  • Online retailing
  • Porn (you could class this as online retailing...)
  • Forums
  • Reference (wiki/review sites/personal websites for special interests)
  • Content streaming (youtube/online radio/online & catchup TV)
  • Humour

IMHO, personal websites are just a rehash of the above. If they are visited, it's probably due to one or more of the reasons above...
 
Gary Coyle said:
Social networking sites are run purely to feed the demands of the Jeremy Kyle show
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A bit of a sweeping statement Gary and were it not for your use of the word purely, I would whole heartedly agree. Well at least it offers me the explanation of why some people on my fb news feed feel they can write all manner of personal stuff that they broadcast to the rest of the world.
Call me old fashioned but I was always taught that you never air your dirty washing in public. Maybe it is the Jeremy Kyle Show that makes them believe it is acceptable.
There are other uses for social network sites - Bejeweled Blitz for one ;)
 
Never really understand why it comes as a surprise that some people feel the need to share 'everything', they are your 'friends' afterall. The people on my feed who do this did exactly the same at work/school/down the pub pre-facebook, and continue to do so offline.
 
Facebook is useful to the lots of people that have friends scattered far and wide around the world. You can set everything to be invisible unless a person is your friend and you control what you say and do on there.

Normal websites are ultimately passive media. TV is passive media, ditto newspapers, magazines. The move is towards interactivity and conversation. The internet is the only growing advertising medium. The rest are all shrinking.

After the death of the traditional community I think this can only be a good thing.
 
Johnny Throstle said:
Never really understand why it comes as a surprise that some people feel the need to share 'everything', they are your 'friends' afterall. The people on my feed who do this did exactly the same at work/school/down the pub pre-facebook, and continue to do so offline.
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Don't remember suggesting surprise at their posting intimate details, more like bemusement. The Jeremy Kyle statement offering an explanation of why they do it.
I'm not overly subscribed to 'friends' on facebook. I've just checked and I have 109. 53 of those are family members. Of the 56 remaining 6 are what I would class as close friends. If I had personal issues I wished to share with my close friends I don't think I would choose group therapy with all 6 in one go. Yet it seems acceptable to you that their behaviour is reasonable? :shrug: I don't think I will ever understand why they do it but I know they do.
 
The question isn't which is better or how good/bad is facebook... More the trend of it taking over to the point that some people esp new users only use facebook and nothing else..

I am sure I saw an advert for a facebook friendly phone not so long ago..
 
KIPAX said:
The question isn't which is better or how good/bad is facebook... More the trend of it taking over to the point that some people esp new users only use facebook and nothing else..

I am sure I saw an advert for a facebook friendly phone not so long ago..
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Couldnt disagree more. I dont know anyone who only uses FB, and while it has its uses, you cannot buy stuff or find suppliers that well on there.
 
I don't really use Facebook but it does have some uses I guess. It's not a patch on having your own website though - you are restricted on Facebook to their layouts, rules etc.

Twitter is something I can't get my head around. Who the hell wants to know that I'm leaving for work in the morning and half way there decided to stick the radio on.
 
KIPAX said:
It would seem more an more people restrict themselves to facebook and dont surf the web or seek out peoples websites. Forums are still thriving but are personal websites when you get more coverage on your facebook page?

I am convinced some people think facebook is the www and dont know or see any point in anyhting else.. The more new users that arrive online who go straight to social networks simply don't know any better.

Is it the way forward? is the www dying as we know it?
Click to expand...

People (surfers) have sevaral needs online

- to communicate and feel included in a group
- to "find stuff"
- to "learn stuff"
- to be entertained

Facebook really only covers the first need, and very partially covers the second

However site owners are realising that to push themselves infront of people they need to go where theier customers are...

The issue is (from my POV) is that (esspecially with facebook) there is a myriad of crap that is pointless, and actually making your message float above the rest is hard work
 
All part of the dumbing down of society today, also a fraudster's charter.
 
The point of twitter is that it is like a large chat room. You don't need to mention boring things :) Most people use it to share links to articles they've read. As a news propagation medium it is quite effective.

It is also quite handy for crowd sourcing ie you ask your followers to help find something out or find a supplier for something.

Even with normal websites trying to make yours float above the miriad of crap is also tricky!

There are suppliers on facebook. There is a facebook market place and apps for shops but I don't think they're well developed. Would be fairly trivial to use something like facebook connect to gather basic personal details to reduce the amount of information needed when placing an order on an ecommerce site. You could also use it for promotion so you could say 'so and so has shopped with Jo Bloggs Inc' and publish it on their wall.
 
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