My 20th high school reunion was last weekend. Even though I didn't go, I have suddenly had a flurry of people finding me on Facebook As this started happening I realized that Facebook is really missing the mark. It really should be marketing itself as the class reunion and Classmates.com killer. It is free, already designed to link people together and it allows people to connect for different group affiliations other than just schools. I signed up for classmates.com years ago. But I have been frustrated with the lack of free content offered by them. Everything they offer requires a yearly subscription. There is not enough information out there that I really care about using that I would be willing to pay for.
As for Facebook, I find it less annoying than MySpace but more cumbersome than Twitter. I have my Twitter posts upload to my Facebook page to help keep everyone up to date without having to actually use Facebook. I have no use for Lil Green patches and bumper stickers or quizzes offered on Facebook. That stuff is crap! But the connectivity and networking that can be done is far superior to MySpace, Classmates and Twitter. I know that they are really competing directly against MySpace but there is a market space that they could dominate in a matter of months if they refocused their efforts. The next time you see a classmates ad on a web page or get an email from them look at their free content and then go to Facebook to see how many people you can find there. If you are like me you will be impressed with the ease in which you can find people and actually be able to contact them.
