What I do and don't like about Facebook

I have been using Facebook now for a few weeks so now I know what I do or don't like about it.

In terms of what I like, I have used it for basically two things: status updates and event management. I never thought I would give a crap about status updates (think one sentence explanation of what someone is currently up to, updated every minute, hour, or day depending on the person), but it's actually fun to see random quips from friends and what they are up to. And the event management is great for when I want to plan something.

But the UI for Facebook annoys me. I hate the fact the thing doesn't save my password. The notification that I have something that requires my attention is unassuming. The advertisement placement is annoying. Basically all of the other features are unneeded by me, even the social networking aspect (only useful for that initial hunt for people on the service, but even that is not critical).

I could go with Twitter, Jaiku, or Pownce (assuming I got an invite) to fit my needs (the first two for the status updates, the last one for events). Problem with any of them is just how many of my friends are actually on the services. Facebook just has great penetration amongst my Vancouver friends.

Heck, the event penetration could be dealt with through SMS by sending it to a ton of people and then emailing the handful of people who don't have cell phones. That leaves just the status updates to deal with. If any of these services had GPS hooked in to report your location based on your cell when you did a status update, that would be perfect!

Anyway, if you happen to use (or would be willing to use) Twitter, Jaiku, or Pownce and are a friend of mine (you know who you are), let me know to see if I can legitimately drop Facebook.