wanna be friends with my cat?

My best friend is a crazy cat lady. She also refuses to join facebook, despite my best prodding. I was joking the other day that maybe if I created a profile for my cat, she would at least join up to create one for hers. Ha! Turns out, this is now entirely feasible, with new facebook application Catbook.

Catbook allows you to create a profile for your cat, tag your cat in photos, find cats in your area, and much more!

But this is not really a post about cat profiles (although I cannot assure you with 100 percent certainty that my two kitties will not become social networkers the next time I get drunk), but about facebook in general. And why I think the people there are brilliant. And why it’s becoming the digital platform du jour.

That’s right, I said “platform.” Not “social networking site.” I was listening to Facebook’s Chris Kelley speak a few weeks back at the IS2K7 conference, and this is one of the first distinctions he made: with the introduction of all the new facebook apps a few weeks back, the company really wants to position itself as an Internet “platform.”

If you’re not on facebook, or haven’t checked out the apps yet, there’s a run-down of just about each and every new facebook application in detail (weighing the pros and cons, the creepiness and usability factors, etc.) over at All Facebook, a bizarre but strangely compelling blog devoted entirely to social networking news.

Girl from the South analyzes some of the new facebook apps here:

While they still need to get rid of the passive away message [interlude from me -- I hate that!], Facebook went above and beyond that last week when they opened up the platform. Most of the applications are fluffy (dogstar and netflix queues?), but the possibilities are really amazing here. The Causes application is particularly exciting. A few months ago, nonprofit job was asked to sign on, so I got to play with Project Agape and set up our profile. While I’m not a fan of the name, it’s a great concept. It’ll be interesting to see how it takes off. I particuarly like the RSSbook. Facebook is quickly becoming the one-stop-shop for all web purposes.

I second Girl from the South’s glowing praise for the apps. A few months back, I was held at gunpoint and forced by Raee (or, you know, talked to about it a lot) to join things like Twitter and iLike. I signed up; I created accounts; I never came back. Now that I can use them both from the safety and comfort of my facebook profile, however, I’ve given them both another try. It’s just nice to have a whole bundle of Web 2.0 technologies and capabilities all in one site, and I’ve already noticed myself signing into facebook more often.

I’ll be the first to admit, I was a facebook naysayer in days of yore. I just didn’t understand the point. Poking people? What is that? Why? And in order to find out anything new about anyone, you had to go around looking at their profiles all the time, and who had the time or inclination for that? The news feed thing in the fall produced a lot of controversy, I know, but looks like it turned out to be a really good move, mostly because it actually keeps people actively engaged in the site. You log on, you don’t just see your own profile (like on MySpace), you see immediately what all your “friends” are doing. You may see on your news feed so and so tagged so and so in a picture, you decide to maybe look at the whole album; you see someone added someone new as a friend, and you didn’t realize they were on facebook, so then you go look at their profile. Whatever. The news feed means there’s more to do, in an easily accessible way. The applications just compound this 10 fold.

A “>another AllFacebook article pointed out,

It is also important to recognize that the role of groups, i.e. affiliation networks, plays a much more prominent role on Facebook. Facebook users typically belong to many different groups, ranging from social causes to sororities to the zany: ‘I remember playing Legend of Zelda.’ This diversity of groups serves a double service: it serves as a source of personal identity and more importantly, serves as catalysts for exposure to new people outside one’s immediate network “Unlimited” is a major keyword because following network theory, the more networks one belongs to the more likely one is to expand their personal connections and thus enhance overall network success.

In contrast, MySpace’s use of groups is more limited to building out profiles (takes more effort) and bulletin boards (dated and non-conducive to interaction). Based on the difference in group structure and design alone, it is easy to see why Facebook’s growth should continue to skyrocket (up 152% in April) while MySpace (only up 49% in April) is likely to level–out over time. Coupled with MySpace’s overall emphasis on profile individuality and personal network interaction, the future for users exploring and expanding with more out-of-network friends seems dubious at best. Especially with Facebook’s new Applications, such as Facebook Causes, I would only look for a larger disparity to soon emerge between the two superpowers.

Although MySpace currently has more visitors per month (66 million v. 23 million), MySpace’s growth is apparently leveling, while Facebook is adding 150,000 users per day.

I was also a MySpace enthusiast in days of yore (this was a short-lived period, however), but now I hardly ever sign in to MySpace unless I’m looking up a band. MySpace obviously still provides a better networking platform for musicians, and arguably other performing arts entities, like small theater groups, festivals, etc. Perhaps with Facebook now stealing a significant portion of MySpace’s spotlight, MySpace can get back to it’s musical roots. That’s my prediction, anyway. When the last social networking battles have been fought, Myspace will remain as the go-to site for musicians, aspiring porn stars and people looking to hook-up with strangers; Facebook for college kids, hipsters, tech geeks, activists and academics. Oh, and for my cats.