DISQUS

I'll also throw in my $0.02 for Google Apps for your domain. It's very easy to do on a Wordpress site as you've seen with all the links posted above. The added benefit is that you can use IMAP so your email stays sync'd across your multiple computers and PDA/Phones. Let any of us know if you need any help setting it up.

Facebook usage in the UK doesn't surprise me with the limited anecdotal evidence from my own life. Part of the problem is many private business, in additional to NHS trusts, across the country have started blocking access to the site. This stop casual browsing and stops feeding the positive feedback loop social by which networking sites live and die.

Internationally, the larger problem is "friend saturation"--the paradoxical phenomenon where social networking site usage decreases as the number of potential new addable friends decreases for individual users. Facebook partially mitigated this effect with profile specific mini-feeds and the news-feed but the signal-to-noise ratio with applications and spammy information has made them nearly useless. Introducing controls to show/hide options on the news feed and limiting application spamming is too little too late.

Ultimately users need something to do on a social networking site once they are allowed access. Finding friends and consensual stalking are the bread-and-butter of sites like Facebook. The only way Facebook will continue to be relevant beyond 2008 is if they implement:

1. A simple but robust privacy system so people don't fear mixing work and personal friends in their lists.

2. A robust private messaging system rivaling established webmail systems out there with open IMAP/POP3 access.

3. Splitting the mini-feed such that user actions are separated from application notifications. The same should be done for the main news feed.

4. Forcing application developers to stop forcing invites.

5. Allowing higher-resolution photo uploads.

6. Tighter integration with mobile phones and text messaging a la iPhone/Blackberry/J2ME phone applications. This could be helped by possibly forging alliances with mobile phone vendors.

7. Integration of web feeds from other Web 2.0 sites much like Plaxo Pulse.

The point is to make sure Facebook has usefulness to people beyond the "friend saturation" phase.

Robert, thanks for all the blogging and interviews from Davos. Your experiences have been an inspiration to many and I certainly look forward to your continued participation in similar forums. Hopefully I'll run into you at a conference in the near future--maybe even Davos next year?!

Robert, I don't expect you to post regarding issues not in your field of expertise. For that information I can go elsewhere. I do expect you to do your best at tech reporting because this is why we come here. Unfortunately, with fame comes unrealistic expectations from people trying to tear you down.

I do appreciate you taking the time to respond to this matter. In your free time it would be great if you could learn about Kenya, East Timor, Sunni-Shite history in Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, etc. However, its for your personal enrichment.

Robert, if you have the money to burn then go for it. I would highly recommend you try other ultraportables first though. If you still go through with a MacBook Air, then more power to you.

I'm skipping the MacBook Air. My nearly 4.5 year old JVC-7310 notebook is smaller and lighter. It also has more features. Sure its only a Pentium M 1Ghz, but it was way ahead of its time and very little exists today that would make me upgrade.

Robert, I suggest you shop around first before jumping on the Air bandwagon. Dynamism (I have no affiliation other than being a happy customer) and other retailers sell much nicer subnotebooks. Sony, Panasonic, Fujitsu and others have far more experience in this category than Apple does. I wouldn't be surprised if most people skip this laptop.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I am leaning towards Phil Parlock's explanation. It seems unreasonable from a traffic and user crossover standpoint for Facebook to buy out Plaxo. Could this be a way to get control of Address Book 2.0 quickly and stop future pretenders to the Plaxo throne?

Privacy is wonderful but people's ideas about it are quite warped. Who are they to get angry at you if you post your number or email address somewhere? I hope I never have come off so patronizing, pissy, and full of myself over what another person can do with their personal details.

My phone number is posted on my Facebook profile, MSN, and blog. Initially, just like you, I don't answer calls from people with blocked numbers. Then I setup a GrandCentral account so people could call me within certain times. Also GrandCentral drops blocked calls for me automatically. It is actually surprising how few people actually call me that don't already know me.

@Neil Barnwell: If I'm memory serves me right then in the early days of Facebook a facility was built into Facebook to allow the exporting of your friends' contact information. This was subsequently removed.

I find this to be a bit annoying because I am one of the many users who rarely, if ever, adds someone that I don't know in person. Having people maintain their own contact information for sync'ing with Outlook and subsequently my cell phone is a killer feature. Unfortunately we aren't allowed to do that.

In a recent Slashdot story, I voiced contempt for Facebook's meaningless notification messages and suggested finding workarounds using open-source tools to add the missing functionality. The comment was moderated to the top. Either Facebook's employees have been reading Slashdot or other users have complained about this issue because (coincidentally) the text of both wall messages and private messages is now emailed out. Maybe Outlook sync'ing will be the next hurdle they conquer after reading this?