One counter-example: would you dismiss Flickr, and the entire photo hosting industry, as not that special, or unimportant?
Facebook likes to brag that they host more photos in the US than Flickr and the other competitors COMBINED (I'm trying to find a linkable source for this - maybe someone has more luck?). That seems pretty special to me, especially since all those photos can be found in a strong social context, unlike on most other hosts.
I also wouldn't dismiss "a convenient way for you and a friend to decide which bar to go to tonight" as unimportant. For the majority of people it's more important than "the biggest advance in information distribution since the printing press". Sad, but true.
It feels weird defending Facebook, since I resisted signing up for it, I'm not a constant user, and yes, there IS a lot of hype. But I don't think it can be dismissed as easily as "I don't get it".
Facebook likes to brag that they host more photos in the US than Flickr and the other competitors COMBINED (I'm trying to find a linkable source for this - maybe someone has more luck?). That seems pretty special to me, especially since all those photos can be found in a strong social context, unlike on most other hosts.
I also wouldn't dismiss "a convenient way for you and a friend to decide which bar to go to tonight" as unimportant. For the majority of people it's more important than "the biggest advance in information distribution since the printing press". Sad, but true.
It feels weird defending Facebook, since I resisted signing up for it, I'm not a constant user, and yes, there IS a lot of hype. But I don't think it can be dismissed as easily as "I don't get it".