News today that Facebook added @mentions to their user interface set the interwebs ablaze. It got me thinking that Facebook is the Google of the social web. Here's why:
- Once the bastard child of social media and only available for college kids, it is now taken over the top spot and has put MySpace in a forever #2 position.
- Facebook bought FriendFeed. For those of you not in the know, FriendFeed is similar to Twitter but a bit less crowded in terms of noise and users.
- Today, Facebook announces the addition of @mentions, which is THE primo Twitter function. Facebook is becoming Twitter more and more.
- Overall the popularity of Facebook is astounding. People use it personally. Businesses use it to connect with customers. Causes use it to drive awareness. Celebs use it to build their brand. Basically, Facebook has connected us all. No more introductions and akward pick up lines. We can all connect to eachother with a simple click.
Because of Facebook's mainstream status and how Twitter is still pretty niche, I predict that Facebook will swallow up Twitter at some point. Slowly but surely, Facebook will be controlling all of our connections on the social web.
Of course, this will last a short time up until Google buys them. :)
Update: Geez, how could I forget Facebook Connect? Facebook is making it easier and easier for us to connectg online with our FB credentials. Pretty soon, most social networking sites and maybe even news sites at some point will use FB Connect.