Field Methods in HCI part 2
Companies closing doors and charging for what was once free content is exacerbated by increasing competition in the online advertising environment. Facebook touts the power of the trusted referral to sell ad-dollars, but the traditional wisdom predicted that social networking sites wouldn't be able to generate profits from these revenues. However, the emergence of games like Farmville, Mafia Wars, Sorority Life - Facebook is finally in the black.
Intellectual property laws are becoming more complicated, especially as Facebook is rumoring to introduce an in-house payment system. This concept of online currency will again cause a ruckus among users not only because it's a touchy subject, but the usability of the platform will be changing again. It's becoming apparent to me that it's impossible to please every user and every developer in a first release. I wish I could be a fly on the wall at a product development meeting - does Facebook use agile project management strategies?
Considering the pervasive nature of Facebook, I figure my content for this feed format will be focused as a creative rehashing/insightful mini-ethnography.
Today I'm thinking about peripherals. It's far easier to post content frequently with a device that's portable. This allegedly improves relevance of content, according to Facebook's algorithm. This relevance has marketing impact. Unfiltered streams tend towards feed distribution, keeping users returning to the applications again and again. Growth of the ground swell is facilitated by the synthesis of the usability of the device it's variety of applications.
