Reinventing Facebook

Google appear to be reinventing Facebook. Again. What'll be the lifespan on this one? I'm guessing not too long.

But it isn't just Google doing this. On an almost weekly basis I here someone saying "I've got a great idea for a business. It's like Facebook. But for xyz." They are intensely excited by their new idea, and can't wait to tell people about it. They are convinced that they are about to make their millions. The question that they can't answer, of course, is why the hell people won't just us Facebook to do xyz.

Facebook works because it is simple to use and broad in its applications. Attempting to reinvent it, or to narrow it to a specific area, will almost certainly fail since there is no reason why people should defect to the new site from Facebook. Facebook is the social networking version of the wheel, and therefore it is bloody difficult to reinvent it.