Mike Musgrove - Into Facebook and Old Friends

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Into = Facebook and Old=20 Friends

By Mike Musgrove
Sunday, September 30, 2007; = F01

I took an accidental walk down memory lane last week after finally = signing up=20 for a Facebook account.

The occasion? There was a report going around that Microsoft was buying a stake of the popular social = networking site=20 in a deal that would value Facebook at a whopping $10 billion -- and it = looked=20 like I might have to write a news story.

Trouble is, I'd always avoided social networks, because I figure I = don't need=20 the Web to keep track of my friends. I already have a tough time keeping = track=20 of phone calls and e-mails; who needs more work? As a tech reporter, my = lack of=20 Facebook time has been a bit of a dark secret, especially as everybody = else on=20 the planet rushes to join up.

Here are the numbers: The site has more than 41 million users and has = been=20 signing up new ones more rapidly than ever lately, at a rate of a = million per=20 week. Microsoft and Google are said to be clamoring to buy a chunk of the = company,=20 though they both declined to comment on the matter; Yahoo got shot down when it offered to buy the company = for $1=20 billion last year.

The company says that the fastest growing group of users at Facebook, = which=20 started as a service for college kids, is people over 35. That's my = demographic,=20 as you can see on my new Facebook page.

Tech pundits say that old-timers like me are joining the site in = droves=20 because it has a layout and user interface that is easier on the eyes = than MySpace's pages are. It lets people stay in touch in a = way that's=20 easy to use and not too pushy. What's more, Facebook users generally are = who=20 they say they are and don't conceal themselves behind fictional = usernames or=20 avatars.

And some say there isn't really anything new here, except a nice = interface=20 and some cool tools you didn't have in earlier days. Analyst Roger Kay says Facebook's model of bringing people = together simply=20 follows a trend that the Web has been observing for 20 years, dating = back to=20 old-school bulletin board systems and the early days of AOL.

Kay's a fan of a widget on Facebook that lets visitors to his profile = see the=20 places he's lived and the places he's visited, but he also thinks the = latest=20 valuations of Facebook are "close to being insane."

"This is the froth on this year's bubble," he said.

Bumbling onto the site in a hurry last week, I immediately committed = a=20 digital goof. I let the site send out a "friend request" to everyone in = my Gmail address book with a Facebook account. Whoops. = Hello,=20 ex-girlfriends, sorry to bother you.

As a result, I've been Googling my friends all week -- to figure out = who they=20 are. The second person to sign me up as a friend was an amiable = Microsoft tech=20 support staffer I talked to last year when my old Xbox died (hi Jam!). For days, my Gmail account has been = loading=20 up with responses from people saying hello from the far corners of my = address=20 book.

While Facebook was built as a way to keep people in touch with one = another=20 socially, some are starting to see this sort of network as having = practical,=20 work-related applications.

Nature Publishing Group, a publisher of scientific = journals, for=20 example, has developed a technology that will help scientists sync up = through a=20 Web application much like Facebook.

Instead of sharing info about what you're reading or listening to = these days,=20 the point of the service, called Nature Network, is to let scientists = share=20 knowledge to improve the quality of their work. Popular groups on the = network=20 are related around topics like global warming and autism, and the = service has=20 thousands of users around the world.

"Ten or 15 years ago, if you were a scientist, most of your = communication=20 with other scientists took place at conferences," said Caitlin Trasande, = an=20 emerging-technology analyst for the company. "This generation, they = don't want=20 to wait until next year's conference."

The company has also held virtual conferences and other get-togethers = on an=20 island it maintains in the online world Second Life.

Full disclosure: Caitlin's a college friend of mine who turned up on = my radar=20 again after I, yes, started my Facebook page last week.

Kay, the analyst, says it's probably inevitable that Microsoft or = Google will=20 snatch up Facebook. The holy grail, for both companies, is to build a = Web world=20 that people never need to leave, when they're online. You'll never need = to open=20 a separate browser window to buy a book, check movie listings, = whatever.

I've been a member of only one sort of social online network that I = can think=20 of, and it's a bit of a taskmaster. As I write this, for example, I'm = logged=20 onto Microsoft's online network for the Xbox game console at work and = can see=20 that my nephew has already sailed far past me in Halo 3's "campaign" mode, even though I had a head start = of=20 several days. I feel like I need to catch up.

Fortunately, there's no time to dwell on that because, bing, I = just=20 got an e-mail that someone has just written on my wall at Facebook, an=20 occurrence that seems important somehow.

Maintaining that Facebook page, if I don't abandon it, will now end = up on the=20 list of modern-day tasks -- along with periodically resetting my cable = modem,=20 figuring out better ways to convert movies into the iPhone or PSP format, maintaining a smart Netflix queue, updating my wedding blog and trying to = remember to=20 program the Pioneer Inno to record Bob Dylan's show on XM Radio. It's a full life.

Alas, I never ended up writing that news story about Facebook, as I = couldn't=20 find anybody to confirm that the Microsoft offer was for real. If you're = on my=20 friends list and know something about the alleged deal -- please, "poke" = me.