Back to web basics

I have joined Facebook. I felt I had to as everyone is talking about it.

I thought i was missing something incredible. So I joined. I'm a little confused now as it's like most social networks i am on. In fact i'd say Linked In is the best option for me. That's not to say Facebook isn't cool, but sites such as Ecademy are more dynamic. Facebook is like Orkut to me - well the groups part. A lot of people in the group and no-one saying very much.

It then started to occur to me that I see these shifts in application trends every so often - many non-tech people i speak to have yet to hear of the last wave, never mind the current or next one.

What are people using Facebook for? Say relative to Linked In? Or Zero Degrees? Note, i'm not asking what Facebook offers (such as simple integration of Twitter, which i can't see a use case for) but rather what do you really USE it for that is new? Is it worth ALL the upheaval of your data?

I love innovation, but there is a startling realization within me that we are shifting the goalposts a lot, but the core framework of things (e.g. openid) remains unresolved - or rather unimplemented by some sites - and just gets re-done over and over.

I'd love to see a collective effort to make the base framework of the web easier for my family (identity is just one aspect), and continue to build the cool stuff on top. Most apps on the web don't ask for anything other than my name and an email, so we could make 75% of sites more accessible! The technology is there right now to do this.