the writing on the wall

Facebook has been getting a lot of media attention in the past few weeks. The "25 Things" meme was featured in USA Today and several other mainstream outlets. More recently, coverage has centered on the revelation that Facebook owns all the content you upload to it. I also found several articles about the sudden surge of older members like, uh, me.

Some of my former co-workers and I have been exchanging messages via the Inbox on Facebook. Much of it was about the WAVA Alumni group I set up. There was no use of "regular" email, just Facebook messages to book another radio interview with "Hell's Kitchen" contestant Carol Scott. As I read and replied to those emails, I was reminded of my early days online. Back then, Prodigy users could only send email to other Prodigy users. The same held true for America Online and CompuServe. Facebook feels a little bit like a return to those days. You have to be on Facebook to reach other Facebookers. Here's hoping the site figures out how to overcome the problems of its popularity.