Facebook will no doubt go into business and technology plans during their F8 conference, much like Twitter did at their own conference. Early reports are that the site will unveil a Like button and a social toolbar for personal websites as a means to stay relevant.
Facebook knows that Friendster and MySpace failed to permanently capture their respective audiences, which have mostly moved on to Facebook. The company is aware of this, and is making moves to solidify its web presence.
“Facebook longs to become a sturdy platform,” writes Pete Cashmore. “The more businesses rely on Facebook, the less likely it is to fail. Zynga has already built a company valued at more than $1 billion using Facebook as a platform, and thousands of websites now use Facebook Connect for their login systems. The toolbar and web-wide ‘like’ button are the next phase; by providing more distributed services, Facebook becomes invaluable. Credits, Connect, toolbars these are all distributed plays that try to weave Facebook’s social graph throughout the fabric of the web.”
“Rather than aiming to be the coolest bar in town and losing its clientele when they leave for a hipper spot, Facebook plans to become the Starbucks of the web, with a Like button on every corner,” he adds.
Source: Mashable
