Yep, I said it… FACEBOOK SUCKS!
Listen, I understand that Facebook may be growing like a Barry Bonds bicep on steroids. And sure, every marketer and their mother is touting how Facebook is the next best thing. But I’m here to you tell that in my opinion that site sucks more balls then a $30 prostitute in need of a crack rock fix.
Here’s my beef with Facebook…
It’s got so many modules and applications that the whole damn thing is confusing as hell. Sure, if you are a 9th grade lad who has all the time in the world to read… “Johnny sent you Vampire Invitation” or “Bonnie sent you a Naughty Request” then I can understand why you may like Facebook.
But I’m no high school kid with all the time in the world to read pointless messages. Yes, pointless, annoying, irrelevant to me making money messages! Please stop sending them.
If you want to be my friend fine. Just add me.
But for the life of god please don’t send me a damn Beer on Facebook. Seriously, don’t even think of sending me a digital beer that I can’t even drink!
Personally I want to make a application that “Throws Beer In Your Face” every time someone sends me a beer that I can’t even drink. You might as well send me a half rack of warm Milwaukee’s Best to my doorstep, because it’s going to end up in the same place… The Trash!
If you want to send me a beer, buy a nice case of imported beer and send it to my house. Or buy me one at a seminar, but don’t send me one on Facebook. What a waste of time! And hey, if you send beer to my house, guess what the chance of me sending a affiliate promotion for you would be? DING DING DING, probably about 100% most of the time.
But when you send me irrelevant garbage on Facebook that just confuses me, wastes my time, and annoys the hell out of me what do you think you get?
That’s right, a big WTF?
Listen, I don’t hate these social networking sites. In fact, I love Myspace. Myspace is chill because I don’t get 9000 different people sending me bullshit that I can’t do anything with. Myspace does a great job of cutting down spam and making things really simple.
Facebook on the other hand has so many idiots creating applications that should be taken out back and shot like Old Yeller! Why in the hell would I want to join a group called “Magic 8 Ball Group” or “People Who Wear Crocs Suck”?
Can somebody say total waste of time?
Not only is it a waste of time, but it’s polluting what could be a decent site. Facebook, you blow. Your application developers blow, and most of the users blow too!
Boy, can you tell how much I love Facebook.
So please don’t ask me to “write on your wall”, join your “dragon group” or any other juvenile garbage that goes on in Facebook. If you want to have a legitimate talk, let’s talk. But contacting me about joining your high schoolish lame group is not the way to get my attention.
Okay, I think you get my feelings about Facebook.
However, I will say if you are a developer and you have half a brain left in your noggin, Facebook can be killer. I know a guy who built a app and has over 1,000,000 users download it. I think it has about 5000 or so active users everyday.
It’s a module that is cool, and serves a purpose. It’s not some lame “come join our Donkey Show Secrets Group”.
So Facebook does have some potential in my mind, but only if you are a developer who is creating something useful that others really want to use.
But if you are just one of the herd, spending your time running around joining this group and joining that group, and sending me fake ass beers I’m here to say in my best “Chris Crocker” voice…
“Leave Jason Moffatt Alone! He’s A Human Being”.
So Facebook users, treat me like a human being, not some random target who you think might want to join your group about picking Dingleberries out of my ass!
Hi Jason,
I must agree even though I have never been on the wonderous” FACEBOOK ” I have been invited but declined by not responding. From the sounds of the comments here – we ( you and I )are not alone in our contempt of this Juvenile and inane waste of time and bandwidth. I almost thought about joining the FBook crowd ( strictly for monetary purposes but thanks to your email I will be setting up MY SPACE .. oh and by the way .. you can be my friend in MS .. I’ll let you know.
Thanks for the entertaining and informative RANT!
Cheers for now ( enjoy the beer of your choice and think of me as you do! )
Harry
I second that a hundred times… total huge mega fu*kin ultra suck of facebook!!!
what a waste
Never joined facebook and never will. I do do myspace but rarely even bother to log in anymore. As for marketing on FaceBook, I simply don’t see the marketing potential
I’m so unfamiliar with face book I don’t even get most of your references.
I can see time suck a mile away. Same with all you web 2.0 worshipers. Maybe I”m shortsighted, but all I know is web 2.0 will HURT more marketers than it will help.
Itw ill hurt them by wasting their time when they could have been creating a product, buying paid traffic and tweaking conversion or finding jv partners. Opportunity cost is what most people never consider.
Web 2.0 is a great thing for certain companies, but in the IM market it’s nothing more than the latest buzz word designed to keep newbies stupid and buying the latest and greatest gizmo or course. Open you eyes people.
But as far as sending you a real beer to your door… sounds like a good idea.
I’m off to whois.
I agree with you completely.
I don’t want to use my valuable time responding to the invitations ad infinitum…..
Jason,
don’t hold back,
tell us how you really feel.
HaHa!
Yeah I have mixed feelings.
Giant potential, some useful apps (though not much unique), but TOO many juvenile gimmicks.
Bring on the EasyVideoSales!
“Opportunity cost is what most people never consider.”
Very wise sentence Joe!
Cheers,
J-Mo
For once I agree with you. But just this once. You should think aboiut your actions as well. Sending me an invite to a Seminar on the BEACH, but saying NO LAMES ALLOWED, not very nice so I give you back a GREAT BIG WTF
Facebook is only good for keeping in touch with friends from high school or college and maybe for hosting pictures.
The apps are obnoxious and out of control. The early proliferation of “groups” should’ve been an indicator of the mess that was to come from giving users developmental control.
And then to let people adjust their layouts so they can move crap around to the point of utter confusion.
Hey Melody,
I told you that you were invited as well.
And for the record, I didn’t even know what the word “Lame” meant until you educated me on it.
Anyways,
Glad we can agree, even if it’s only once!
J-Mo
I only use Facebook for catching up with old friends.
It’s totally useless as a marketing channel, not that I’ve even tried – it’s just not worth my time.
Like J said, the only good way to leverage FaceBook is if you could create apps that people actually want with a clear and effective marketing channel.
But then the traffic on that site would be so incredibly un-targeted that you’d need 10:1 the traffic of a regular content or PPC campaign anyway just to make it work.
Maybe I’m being a pessimist, I dunno.
But for the moment, it’s just a social tool for me.
It’s where I go if I WANT to waste time, and only to get in contact with friends to make travel plans, etc….
-Chris
Ed Dale thinks it’s great…
😉
This is not about facebook but I am too lazy to find another place to leave a post.
Jason how did the Internet Marketing Kegger go. I never received any emails with any info on your keggers outcome.
If you see this post please send out an email and maybe some pics on the kegger. Later Joe Meade
Face book is actually a CIA front that collects and digs all your information (Don’t believe me? Read Their TOS) it allows them to continue to dig all of your info on the internet and store it in a huge database. Face book does suck. Unfortunately those of you who have already given them permission to dig your info you’re already in their database. Again, if you don’t beleive it, read their TOS. It’s all in there! Later…
Anthony Tomei
mail to: makemoneynow@sendfree.com
totally.
facebook is a dismal waste of time.
and any marketers that are monetizing with it, or even pretending to monetize with it, i’m sure will be selling us their next boatload of crap.
don’t hold back j-lo, oops i mean j-mo ;-))
I love WTF!
WTF is it about video that destroys the ability to discern?
WTF is everybody going loopy about stupid movies for?
WTF is so great about about video on a social site any way?
Video sucks – BIG STYLE – It is the biggest victory over common sense ever perpetrated by the roogoos.
There ARE two good things about video.
It STOPS me buying things that I might have been interested in and it STOPS me staying on websites that might have something to sell me.
I can read much faster than anybody can speak. I understand what I read with greater clarity than anything anybody ever says to me.
FaceBook? – Of course it is rubbish.
If the amount of effort put into creating the videos was devoted to working at a relationship, how much better do you suppose those relationships would be?
I wonder just how much time is spent thinking up stupid group names? Here’s one for free – ‘The I didn’t know it was donkey dung’ group.
p.s. j-mo
what is your fav beer, and where do we send it?
Thanks, Jason. I was wondering what was going on. Signed up for Facebook a while ago, but never did much with my account. Then all of a sudden, everyone’s talking about FACEBOOK, so I started taking a more active involvement, and have been really confused by all the “junk” that’s everywhere on that site.
I thought it was supposed to be a haven for “serious” marketers!
I’m finding it to be more like the juvenile playground that you described in your post, though I would never use those same words. 😉
And JOE! How’ve you been? Your comment is right on!
While social networking may get you name recognition in some circles and LOTS of virtual friends, will any of them buy what you’re selling? Are they your target market? Is your time investment worth the return? For some, maybe. But for the majority, I seriously doubt it!
Fake beer. Hahaha!!
Kathleen
well written, blood. amused. really funny. hat off.
once upon a time i went around f-one by train. haven’t been there since. must be terrible place.
Hi Jason,
I have taken your advice to heart my friend.
Screw Facebook, I just sent you a case of the finest Belgian imported beer.
If you have ever tasted it before, I will salute you. If you have ever tasted a finer beer, I will buy you TWO cases of that one.
How’s THAT for a guarantee? 😉
Salud,
Brian
http://www.MafiosoMarketing.com
Yeah, Facebook does have a big ‘so what’ written right on its forehead.
The thing is, Facebook started out as a kind of ‘live online yearbook’. And even though they’re adding a thousand apps and changing their database model to suit deeper networking etc…
…they’ll never be able to change who they are at the core. They’ll try as long as they have the growth, but it’s unlikely to work. It virtually never happens.
As for marketing purposes, I think it’s best used to build an easy place to build a deeper relationship with your customers (on the groups side) and possibly to spread videos and other media…
…but even those things are still done a lot better elsewhere so Facebook remains a big ‘so what’ for marketers.
Maybe some killer app and the new database model will change that in the future but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Mr Moffat, Wether I endorse face book or not I don’t have to redeem myself to you. I an already redeemed in christ and I am a free man. I don’t know where you got the nerve to write me such an email but
you can take your attitude and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. I have nothing to do with ” Facebook”
and certainly now also not with you. Go mind your own business and never darken my email again with your stupid anxiety mongerig attitude. — sincerely,
Doug Rosbury
Hey Doug,
Is Jesus on Facebook?
If so, could you ask him to add me as a friend?
Just don’t have him send me any beer
Hey, if you aren’t pissing off somebody you probably aren’t marketing all that well.
Somehow I think the man upstairs will still give me a pass on judgement day though.
I’m sending you a beer right now on Facebook
Hey Jason,
Just sent you a free pass to Heaven on Facebook
Facebook is great! Finally, there’s a professional social networking site worth joining where you don’t (a) have annoying music automatically playing when you load someone’s profile (b) have annoying fonts, font sizes, and font colors that people use on their profile for some reason (c) have to get along with ugly and graphic-laden layouts… everything’s standardized. Yes, most of the applications are stupid. But nobody’s forcing you to add them.
I Just signed up to facebook and quickly realized what a juvenile thing it is. Oh well, I have stayed away from the games and will try to make the most of it. Yea, it is pretty high school and to get anything senseable out of it will take a bit of time..
That was f’ing hysterical…
I resisted joining Facebook for the longest time, but we’re building an app that connects to our new social network (pretty sweet, if you own a boat), so I had to give it a go…
It took me forever to figure out what the hell was going on with all the different apps (still don’t get the purpose of most of them either), and YES, I too prefer MySpaz.
(Not to say that I don’t enjoy hurling sheep at people from time to time.)
Meanwhile, Jason, if we’re ever at the same seminar together in the future, I WILL buy you a real beer — for making me just totally laugh my ass off at this blog post.
Bravo!
~JP
jas,
while i think you defiantly have a point you can run away from the fact that this is the next powerhouse of web 2.0
I know several people who live too far away to join communities and make friends so this is a great resource from them.
Cheers
john
Good stuff J-Mo…Your last sentence cracked me up.
I agree about the site being too cluttered but in all actuality I get quite a few spammy messages on MySpace as well. I don’t know how many friend requests I turned down because it was supposedly some hot girl wanted to get naked in front of the camera and wanted me to go watch. Please, I bet half of those supposed chicks that want to be friends are really guys who are just promoting some porn affiliate program.
Anyway, take care man and oh btw, what’s kind of beer do you like? I may need some help with a promotion someday 🙂
Laterz,
Michael
I not the biggest fan of Facebook either I do use it but like others have said because I have friends that swear by it. Lately I have been using Yuwie because they offer to pay you for using it like you would use Myspace or Facebook. Check it out if you wish http://r.yuwie.com/epw yes the a blatant promotion but hey it is free to join.
I have already earned .12 cents just a matter if they send out payments when they my pool reaches $25.
I guess I’ll see what happens
I really do not like the gift thing either. I want beer I can taste and hey if I earn that $25 Jason I’ll send you enough for that beer just for the hell of it 😉
Amen brother.
I think you missed a few others out though:
http://www.snowboardjohn.com/the-top-5-most-useless-web-20-sites/
hey Jason I personally pay 10$ for a cheap prostitute. If you need her number give me a call at (307)222-4746 and I’ll fix you up good.
Your post was interesting. I don’t agree with you though.
I like facebook. I’ve found many old friends that I’ve lost contact with that I would never have been able to find otherwise. I can keep up to date on what my friends are doing, and it’s just interesting and fun.
For the love of God… RELAX and drink your virtual beer.. Be grateful that someone actually thought of you and sent it. It’s not going to kill ya. 🙂
Sure many of the applications are a complete waste of time, but not everything in life has to be serious or ‘for business only’.
On the other hand, it does get annoying when you receive the same request to install an app that you’ve declined a hundred times.
~Shannon
Thank You!
Everybody keeps touting the dumb sh** and not looking at if it makes BUSINESS sense!
As for ‘old high school buddies and college friends? Please! You could barely stomach them when you were there, now all of a sudden you get religion?! WTF!
As far as I’m concerned, Craig Garber said it best: Should Old Acquaintances be forgotten? Damn Skippy!
Hey Jason,
I hung out with you at your Internet Kegger. Wanted to thank you for the help with my website copy…already implementing the changes.
Now for the topic at hand: I don’t know much about Facebook per se but I think you bring up a very interesting point about all of the Web 2.0 sites.
I understand the SEO advantages of acquiring links from these sites and I know there is alot of traffic to be had by spending time with them. But my problem is that the whole Web 2.o monetization strategy is far too indirect. It really lacks in true direct marketing muscle.
I come from the “buy targeted traffic, send them to a killer sales page and convert them” school of marketing. (meaning I actually have to know how to write copy and build sales funnels). I haven’t seen one single Web 2.0 “guru” discuss any kind of system to get this traffic into some kind of sales funnel…other than putting some widget on your blog and hoping some of that traffic clicks through and converts…maybe that’s enough, I seriously doubt it.
I want to add Web 2.0 to my arsenal but the opportunity cost issue that Joe brought up is a big concern of mine. My plan is to keep doing what I’m doing with PPC, find out what keywords are converting, and use these social sites to gain valuable links that will help me rank organically for keyword phrases that convert.
I can do that by simply using software like Web2Submitter to syndicate my content on these sites. Screwing around, trying to get a bunch of geeks or teenagers over to my blog with no monetization strategy is for the birds. I think anyone who’s new to internet marketing would be much better served by picking up a $10 Dan Kennedy book or buying John Carlton’s stuff.
All the Web 2.0 traffic in the world won’t do you a bit of good if you don’t know how to market to them well and/or have no monetization system in place. If I’m missing something here, please let me know.
Chris
I just had to respond to the alleged Christian who said “you can take your attitude and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine” – not a very Christian thing to say, so whoever wrote that has some work to do.
All I got to say is that I don’t think you were clear enough about your feelings on this one and that you really should do a vidcast.
I almost said I would pay to see it. But I wouldn’t.
It would be funny as hell though.
Cameron
Well Jason, I’m not a great Facebook fan either, but you just wasted my time by ranting and raving and repeating the same words in different sentences. You could’ve said that in two sentences. I thought there might be something interesting there, so I kept on reading. What a waste of time.
O.K. I’m the lone voice of dissent here, but I just have to say it.
Yes, I think virtual beers, and eggs and vampires are a waste of time. (Although it’s nice to know someone at least had a POSITIVE thought about you.)
However, I have made many professional contacts through Facebook.
On the other hand, I’ve been a member of MySpace for over a year (because as a newbie, I was told it was a smart marketing move). All I’ve EVER gotten from MySpace is SPAM, SPAM, SPAM.
I completely avoid it now. Didn’t even bother to remove my site. What a WASTE!
Web 2.0 has to make LOTS of changes before it will be a real asset to marketers. All these social networking sites want your posts/articles to get VOTED UP, but if you have a group of friends that follow your posts and VOTE THEM UP, then you get kicked off the sites. What a WEIRD arrangement!
If anybody knows of a Web 2.0 site where you can HONESTLY say, “Look, here’s my great product and it will change your life for the better!”
PLEEEEZE tell me.
Thanks,
Brennan
http://setourteachersfree.com
I love Facebook, but it’s so damn annoying with all the stupid e-mail notifications (like you say) of people freakin’ poking me. Not to mention how complicated the whole shizzle is, and the people who constantly ask me to become a vampire. Ugh…
Hi Jason,
I’ve sent you an invitation from my latest new Facebook app, “virtual hand jobs”. You can either give your friends a free one, or pay $1 for the deluxe version, which uses your virtual left hand (which apparently feels like someone else then).
We hope to bring out a left handed user version, once the venture capital deal is secured.
I’m planning a follow up, virtual after sex cigarette.
Do you think it will go viral?
Oh dear, a viral sex app 🙁
In all seriousness, I appreciate you don’t like facebook.
I concur the modularity of it is confusing to a newbie, but that is soon fixed if you have even 1 friend and see what they have installed.
However, whether you regard it as a web 2 environment, or not, a growing number of “users” DO treat it like a second home.
The problem with most facebook developers is they wouldn’t know a viral app if it bit them on the ass.
Hmm – I just sent you an invitation from my very latest Facebook app, Bite Your Mate on their Virtual Ass.
But Facebook is as useful a web destination as erm. yours. So once a killer app does come, it will be the url to go to for that.
Meantime it provides a fairly safe and spam free with a plethora of paint drying modules.
And have you noticed yet? Even YOU are talking about it!
(BTW we are actually developing some useful facebook apps, so don’t resign just yet!)
Peter.
I don’t like Facebook either. It’s got way too much going on and the navigation sucks. It takes like 5 or 6 clicks to get to where I wanna go and the messaging system is trash.
Let’s all hang out on Yuwie. At least we’ll make $0.33 for our participation there.
If you’re on Yuwie add me, profile name evpstud
I respect Facebook more than Myspace. Myspace spams me constantly with people trying to be my friend and the number grows everyday. I agree with you on the growing apps problem but at least it gives an opportunity for people to learn how to make apps. Myspace gives people a chance to make websites that are horrible and doesn’t take as long to make an app. Facebook is better for keeping in touch with your old college buddies.
And one more thing, email me your home or work address and I will send you a beer, guaranteed.
Jason, oh Jason:
Met you through Dr. Mike’s Traffic Tactics and my husband had always talked about Profit Moffit; but I have to disagree with you on Facebook.
I participated in this year’s Thirty Day Challenge with Ed Dale and Dan Raine and that is where I found out about Facebook. So I followed my assignment early on in July and signed up for Facebook with some trepidation as I had read on some of elder blogs how FB was full of young kids and very anti-aging.
I have found no anti-aging from the people with whom I have been in contact. As a matter of fact, I have received very helpful information and advice on problems I was having within the 30DC and Internet Marketing in general.
Yes, I would agree that there are way too many useless apps with drinks, gifts, walls, pokes and
chumps; BUT I have choices to do them or not. Just as we have with so many things within the IM environment.
As a matter of fact, I think that I just found your name on one of the groups and added you as a friend; perhaps now you will not confirm me. (But, I promise not to send you a drink. When we meet again, I will buy you a REAL drink.)Sorry, but I would encourage you to check FB again. Quite frankly, I would have thought that you would find a better fit than I.
But, this doesn’t change the fact that I find you most interesting and have an RSS feed for your blog. Are you going to Affiliates Tactics? If so, we can continue this discussion.(Buy you a real beer there.)
Hey – who was it talked about these sites as good avenues for getting through to people for JVs?