Jeff Jarvis in today's Guardian:
What is Facebook's secret sauce? I think it starts with identity. On the otherwise anonymous and pseudonymous internet, this is a place where real identity matters: I use my name and I associate with people whom I actually know. Soon after I started, I got invitations from strangers and asked my blog readers about the etiquette of responding. I was told that, in school, one accepts all invitations, because you are all in the same institution and it's rather like an arms race; school is, after all, a popularity contest. But we newcomer adults already seem to be developing a rule (borrowed from the similar business site LinkedIn) that we should befriend only those we know; it is an endorsement. So we are the masters of of our identities and our communities, which establishes trust. I think internet users have been yearning for such control.
Meanwhile, I think Stowe's spot on when he writes:
Why does Facebook only allow me one blog to be imported?
And:
What I really want is a Twitterific-type desktop app that takes my Facebook stream, and pops new stuff via Growlr. Or, alternatively, a richer notification system: I can't get notified when new material is posted to a group that I administer, for example.
Well, I'm (still?) on a Windows machine and can't comment on Twitterific or Growlr, but a richer notification system — YES! I hit a point yesterday when I found myself asking — 'Now what?'. I wanted more … feedback.
