About two years ago CNet published an article titled Five reasons social networking doesn’t work .

Here is the list of reasons that social networking doesn’t work:

1. There’s nothing to do there
2. It takes too much time
3. Traffic alone isn’t enough
4. Strangers kind of suck
5. We already have the Internet

The most important one that has plagued social networking sites has been number one, there’s nothing to do there.  Once you create an account, generate your lists, all you have left is adding friends.  Things are slightly better than that today, but basically that is it.

Facebook has changed all of this with their announcement of the Facebook Platform.  The Facebook Platform gives developers access to all the Facebook users.  They can embed applications, similar to widgets, into Facebook and  users can add them to their navigation.  Giving users something to do once the novelty wares off.

This certainly sets them apart from the other social networks.  I can’t wait to see how this plays out.