Feb
7
Written by:
SHeather
07 February 2012
Last week saw Facebook announce plans for flotation, with a valuation being estimated somewhere in the region of £3bn. But what does it take to create a piece of software on par with the phenomenon that is Facebook? It is a question we are sure many software designers and developers have been asking themselves since Facebook first exploded into our lives in late 2006.
What is unique and clever about Facebook is not the code, but more the ideas and ethos of what Facebook is trying to do. It is the taking of something people around the globe want to do on a day-to-day basis and translating this into the digital world; the technical solutions are merely a means to an end. The idea of keeping in touch with friends and family is nothing new, but it is the ease in which Facebook allows you to do this that is the key. Messaging and talking to friends, organising events and sharing your photos; these are all things which could be done before, but when Facebook arrived it put them all in one, easily accessible place. While new features such as the ‘Like’ button have been introduced over the years, the site still revolves around these simple actions.
But what does the future hold? With more and more companies creating pages on Facebook, will it replace the first point of contact for a company, with users visiting a company Facebook page before they visit their website? How long will it be until the BBC’s Facebook pages become the primary point of contact for things such as News and current affairs? Will Facebook replace email and become the number one communication tool? For many, it has already become a one-stop-shop for both keeping in touch and organising the weekend’s activities. The way things are going, it is not inconceivable to imagine Facebook as a kind of web portal through which users find can all of the information they are interested in, with everything they need in one place.
While some of the above is not yet a reality, and perhaps never will be, it does demonstrate how a simple idea can potentially grow into something as successful as the Facebook platform. For software designers and developers, and perhaps for everybody, there is an invaluable lesson hidden within; keep things simple, as the best ideas are always the simplest.
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