Facebook, anyone?

Today I had a rather informative foray into the friendlier of Web 2.0 when a co-worker requested a quick tutorial on Facebook. Now, I have never actually owned a Facebook account; I've done MySpace, but by and large I only use it to spy on people in the least malevolent way possible. You need an account to view other people's pages, and my sister is constantly asking me if I saw this/that/the other on someone's page. So I have an account with minimal information so people can't find me and suck me into the vortex of online social networking. Social networks are great, but becoming cyber-glued to them via phone, email, and chat just isn't for me. Maybe I'll give them another try now that I'm out of high school, and perhaps the experience will be more beneficial.

Anyway, we were trying to set up a Facebook account with some basic applications and a layout and user pic, and I was really taken by a few things I encountered. First, some of those applications really aren't intuitive to install, even the second time around. I much prefer a good old place to edit code as opposed to ambiguous box moving and accepting applications, but that's probably just me.

Second, some ads are really gaudy and annoying. I recognize that ads are the price we pay for free code and downloads (those site owners have to put bread on the table somehow), but when did sites start plastering them over 75% of the screen, sacrificing good design for a few extra bucks? I know I won't be going back to those sites. Is it really profitable for them to lose return visitors over whatever the ad placer is paying? I would love to see the statistics on how annoying those ads need to be before the site is actually *losing* visitors.

So me and my friend set up the Facebook account, and then got to talking about other fun things the Web now offers. I do hate to admit this, but I worship at the "evil" throne of Google. Whatever you think of the materials that search engine returns, my goodness do they deliver on great applications. And even then, the search engine is sweet (it's frequently the crap posted online that's the problem). I think Google is great for beginners and even experts--it's simple and straightforward for people who need it, and you can tool around with Google sites or dabble with some open source at Google code. Google does things well. I have a strong belief that the sheer simplicity and ease of customization play a big role in their success; anyone who doesn't believe me need to check out iGoogle for a couple of weeks, then decide if they want to leave.