So Arnold wrote this piece about the growing dominance of Facebook (is that my internet home???). In honor of some of the questions he raised, I am going to throw some possibilities out about the questions of search:
It might be that search is not the answer, finding is. And finding, is inherently social. It also, as a result, may not matter if Facebook is closed off as much as we think.
As I watch my Facebook stream go by I notice the following:
1) Users often don’t click on the “most recent” tab…
2) Facebook does some weird algorithm dance based on who I look at, what I click on, and other information that they gather about me. and it is very weird. And it may be the new Google algorithm and we just don’t know it yet, because it really feels unsorted out.
Sticking a link in seems to help…but only somewhat. It also is very dependent on what that link is. Random link is much less cool than IMDB. Pushing through your own content is also very cool. But totally random, not cool.
Only some people show up in the most popular links. And those people are usually the people you look at a lot, not necessarily the ones you share interests with. So you could be facebook stalking a frenemy going GRRRR, and their links and stuff will be popping through, and irritating you more, whereas the person you share stuff in common with (by say groups that you overlap with) may never show up. Yes, very weird. However, it does point away from the “we only look at ourselves and our echo-chamber” theory.* Apparently Chat and poke may not be included. So I can chat with certain friends all the time, and they will never show up in the most popular stream. Such is Facebook’s analyses of my friendships on their system.
One last note:
In the past few days, I’ve seen a request for a search of the stream (for a Rav Hiddiya Quote I believe…) and an announcement of deletion from Facebook (contemplation of a slower internet life). It may be a closed system, but it is a closed system that is generating a lot of heat, light, and energy. This is causing a lot of confusion about how to find and give away stuff needed. It is incredibly frustrating to not have that final step of the ecosytem, because in the interim it can sometimes feel like Facebook is a time suck. Information is buried underneath Facebook, and it isn’t clear at all how to unearth it, which is why the flow system unattached to some search function seems to hit people in the gut. It often feels like the information is going nowhere, very fast, and that one can be overwhelmed by the anti-social presence of large amounts of people hitting you with information that may not be relevant at that point (but may be for later) Without some sort of deeper presentation or curating system, Arnold, you are right, there is going to be hell to pay. People don’t want to feel like they are giving to a system without the system giving back. It is one of the reasons Google worked so well. Facebook needs to game up, or else it won’t make it as Social Search.
*no comment on my friendships.
In Honor of Arnold and Facebook
So Arnold wrote this piece about the growing dominance of Facebook (is that my internet home???). In honor of some of the questions he raised, I am going to throw some possibilities out about the questions of search:
It might be that search is not the answer, finding is. And finding, is inherently social. It also, as a result, may not matter if Facebook is closed off as much as we think.
As I watch my Facebook stream go by I notice the following:
1) Users often don’t click on the “most recent” tab…
2) Facebook does some weird algorithm dance based on who I look at, what I click on, and other information that they gather about me. and it is very weird. And it may be the new Google algorithm and we just don’t know it yet, because it really feels unsorted out.
Sticking a link in seems to help…but only somewhat. It also is very dependent on what that link is. Random link is much less cool than IMDB. Pushing through your own content is also very cool. But totally random, not cool.
Only some people show up in the most popular links. And those people are usually the people you look at a lot, not necessarily the ones you share interests with. So you could be facebook stalking a frenemy going GRRRR, and their links and stuff will be popping through, and irritating you more, whereas the person you share stuff in common with (by say groups that you overlap with) may never show up. Yes, very weird. However, it does point away from the “we only look at ourselves and our echo-chamber” theory.* Apparently Chat and poke may not be included. So I can chat with certain friends all the time, and they will never show up in the most popular stream. Such is Facebook’s analyses of my friendships on their system.
One last note:
In the past few days, I’ve seen a request for a search of the stream (for a Rav Hiddiya Quote I believe…) and an announcement of deletion from Facebook (contemplation of a slower internet life). It may be a closed system, but it is a closed system that is generating a lot of heat, light, and energy. This is causing a lot of confusion about how to find and give away stuff needed. It is incredibly frustrating to not have that final step of the ecosytem, because in the interim it can sometimes feel like Facebook is a time suck. Information is buried underneath Facebook, and it isn’t clear at all how to unearth it, which is why the flow system unattached to some search function seems to hit people in the gut. It often feels like the information is going nowhere, very fast, and that one can be overwhelmed by the anti-social presence of large amounts of people hitting you with information that may not be relevant at that point (but may be for later) Without some sort of deeper presentation or curating system, Arnold, you are right, there is going to be hell to pay. People don’t want to feel like they are giving to a system without the system giving back. It is one of the reasons Google worked so well. Facebook needs to game up, or else it won’t make it as Social Search.
*no comment on my friendships.