Someone I know is writing a book titled So You’re on Facebook, Now What? From what I can tell, it centers on how to build a commercial profile on facebook, and how to increase your visibility. Hmmm… I admit to having some doubts about this. We all make money on the stupid Intarweb in some way or another, but it seems to me that the social networks are like parties that progress through stages:

• stage 1: not many people – this might be lame
• stage 2: okay, some people are showing up – let’s stick around and see what happens
• stage 3: wow– there’s some cool people here, and i’m a little drunk. Fun!
• stage 4: rager! holy shit! look how many people are here! We can do anything! (let’s steal ketchup from the fridge and throw it into the street!!!)
• stage 5: waaay too many people. The cops are gonna show up, and people are pushing and shoving, and i can’t hear anything you’re saying right now. This is lame.

MySpace progressed through to stage 5 rather quickly. Facebook is somewhere in stage 4. The problem I have with this book is the purposeful, driven, crass commercial intention of it. Just like that party, imagine the college friend of yours who comes through the crowds and pushes the Red Bull stickers and is trying to get you to buy pre-paid long distance cards. Meh– dork alert. Once the businesses are actively pushing their agendas on the crowd, the sponteneity, the fun interaction, the conversation, the party, begins it’s messy end. The cool kids head for a different darker smokey club, and the only ones left are the hucksters all trying to sell each other something.

I’ve already started to kill all the goofy apps from my facebook. I only check the thing once every 4 days or so now (down from my temp addiction of 2x/day last month). It’s nice to keep a line out to my old friends, and the moment I let it get past that, it’s no better than reality TV or mindless webtrash.

My advice? Be very very careful how you sell your shit on facebook– you may do more damage to your brand than you think.  If the social network angle makes sense (some sort of friend interaction like wish lists or music tastes), maybe.  If you’re just blabbing to the masses, get out.