Facebook: Why It Gains Momentum

Pasted from my previous blog posted 20 March 2009.
Social networking site becomes trend after dot com booming ruins many dot com company around year 2000. The new term Web 2.0 appear as a new way to use internet as interaction point. Web 2.0 bear some familiar stuff to us currently like social networking site and weblog. Those two stuffs offer common thing. Interaction between user from everywhere is linked by internet. We can communicate and find friends in social networking site. We can publish something, either writing, picture, video on weblog. From there, internet is never same as before. This post will try to discuss about social networking site and its impact to our daily life.

First social networking site that I know is friendster. I became member at 2005. At that time, I really astonished about interaction possibility that is offered by friendster. The possibility to find friends, whether we have knows, or not recognize at all. See friend profile, browse their foto album and give testimonial to our friend profile. For several years friendster become most visited site, at least in Indonesia. A lot people being connected and find new friend use friendster.

Not long after, several new term in internet technology is appearing. Most famous in web developer point of view is Ajax, something that is often related to Web 2.0. In easy way, Ajax can be interpreted as a technology that make user and website interaction more natural. User can click something on site and immediately got response without have to wait whole page rendered like Web 1.0 has done. Many Ajax application then was born use Ajax technology. We know Gmail, Google Earth, Plurk and Facebook.

Currently, after friendster booming, it seems Facebook try to replace friendster position as the most favourite social networking site at least in south east Asia, my region. Several power feature offered by facebook are rich applications and more dynamic interaction. At 2007 Facebook has launched Facebook developer platform and then open posibility to many developer to develop custom application which can be used by facebook user. This offer make Facebook really rich of application from simple pet game, racing game, etc. Dynamic interaction is presented by facebook use a lot of comment can be put by user to another user. Comment to photo, video, etc. We also can put something on other user wall. Wall is something that belong to user where another user can put many things on it. The most favorite for many user is status update. We can put whatever activity we do, whatever thing in our mind on status update. Interestingly, many other user will have same interest and put some comment.

Beside those 2 reasons, the other factor which make facebook more gain momentum is mobile web that become more common today. Recently we can browse website from everywhere. We can post blog content, send email and even chatting use whatever chatting protocol. Updating or see other user update on social networking site seems to be an interesting activity for us. When we on train, we can check other friend status, respond on it. We can browse their photo and maybe make online chat use facebook messenger. So, for other social networking site, it is your time to make new innovation, otherwise, facebook flood will ruins all of you.