Is Facebook wearing out its welcome?

Musings on whether the good in Facebook will keep me coming back or the bad will annoy me away

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, Facebook has hit 350 million users. That’s well over the entire population of America. Not bad for something created 5 years ago in a dorm room.

This monumental success got me thinking about the great things Facebook has given us, and the not so great stuff that has tagged along with it. I’ve found myself growing out of Facebook recently because the annoying things are so persistent. But the good things that have hooked me, and hundreds of millions of others, keep me returning. For the time being, at least. I’m very curious to see if the increasing tedium of the social networking site won’t start to push those huge numbers back down in 2010, or at least slow its growth as users turn elsewhere.

Here are five reasons I keep visiting the world’s 2nd most visited website, and 5 things I could definitely live without.

I come to Facebook to …

Keep up with friends in other countries
As an expat, Facebook has been a godsend in making it easy to stay up to date on my friends’ lives from across the Atlantic, even salvaging some sense of the intimacy that was lost when I moved.

Share my internet finds
At the moment, Facebook is the most effective way to share funny/interesting videos or articles I find with all my friends at once. I don't want them to miss out on gems like the literal version of Under the Bridge, after all.

Check out and share photos
Photo tagging is a great idea. Not only can I share photos with friends and family, I can see all the ones I’m in and the ones my friends are in. It lets me look into their lives with minimal time and effort. The upcoming photo tag search will make this even better. 

Easily organize events
Right now Facebook provides the easiest way for me to organize a party, as trying to get each and every person on the phone individually is always a chore. Things like this are what Facebook should be all about - making people’s lives easier by connecting them in a useful way.

Remember people’s birthdays
I used to forget everyone’s birthday, but Facebook tells me every day whose is coming up next. It’s a little thing, but a big help for someone as forgetful as me.

And leave because of the …

Unchecked narcissism
This comes in many forms, from picture after picture of someone showing off their muscles (or muscle cars), to constant updates about every little thing someone does, to shameless self promotion. Many, many people can’t resist shouting LOOK AT ME every five seconds when they’re given an audience, and Facebook provides them with an audience around the clock. This is undoubtably why millions of people are clamoring for an “unlike” button.

Mafia Wars and other irritating apps
I actually kind of miss seeing inane updates from friends in my mini feed, because now it’s full of ‘accomplishments’ they’ve achieved in digital farming or pretend mafia warfare. Moreover, the novelty of seeing what people are up to has worn off and I hardly read updates at all anymore. Even more annoying, Mafia Wars has spilled over to Twitter as well with people tweeting their accomplishments and sending DM’s requesting I join. Please, give it a rest. I don’t care and I never will.

Utterly pointless content
I’m sure glad to know my friend Stefan is a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches and Carlos is a fan of the cold side of the pillow. I get that these are more gags than anything, but my tolerance for such a large amount of fluff content is decreasing as social media platforms become more refined and focused.

But it does look all melty and yummy...

Too-much-information status updates
This is another reason I hardly look at the mini feed anymore. There’s so much info in there that I don’t need, or want, to know. But on the plus side, TMI updates have given us facebookfails.com.

Reads best in valley girl voice

Overbearing dominance
Like it or not, you’re pretty much forced to be on Facebook to stay in the loop. Even my most stalwart friends who resisted for ages have given in and created profiles. Hell, my grandmother even has one. Somehow the fun and novelty of the whole experience is lost when it nears mandatory status.

It seems hard to believe right now that Facebook will just fade away, but it’s happened before (I’m looking at you, MySpace) and it could happen again if Facebook isn’t careful. I used to think life without Facebook would suck, but now I’m feeling ready for something new to come along. But maybe it’s just me. Do you see yourself still visiting Facebook every day a couple years from now?

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.