Facebook Groups – The Web 2.0 Version of Email Chains?

This is a Guest Post by Dan Offer. Dan is an internet entrepreneur who follows Facebook developments. He is a partner in the popular Facebook IM Chit Chat for Facebook.

You can call me cynical, but is it me or does every news story have a Facebook group that I seem to get invited to.

In fact, with Google recently announcing that they now index 620 million Facebook groups it is likely that every conceivable topic has a Facebook group.

It feels to me, however, that direct action student protests of the 1960s and 1970s have been replaced with passive Facebook groups which you sign up to if you feel remotely feel emotionally attached to the subject, a friend has invited you or you find it slightly amusing in the moment.

Now, I can understand perhaps joining a Facebook group on helping Haiti but is there really any point unless you’re going to give financial or practical support?

Well, actually maybe, according to Fay Schlesinger of the Guardian – Facebook groups have actually been used to organise political protests. Moreover, Facebook groups are popularly used to exchange information in countries where the media is controlled by the government.

Additionally, Facebook groups themselves can actually become news stories for example, Secret London which provides tips about relatively unknown places around London that are worth a visit.

But who really cares if Parker Terry from Indiana will call his second born son Spiderman if 100,000 Facebook users join a Facebook group (which they have incidentally) or 32,548 people like the cold side of the pillow.

Personally, I’ve noticed that as my friends have left University I get increasingly less of this Facebook group invite spam.

Ultimately the pointless use of Facebook groups is just a development of chain email spam. Simply put, it’s more convenient and more virally effective to create chain mail from Facebook groups.

If I was a betting man, I’d say to you that the next phase of development from email chains and Facebook group chains is going to hit our mobiles in a big way.

Chain mailing, my fellow friends of Facebook, is unfortunately here to stay.

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