I was in the process of writing a post today about the new ability that Facebook’s adding for users and Mike Arrington of course beat me to the punch. Mike is calling it the “Everyone Button” and while I can’t confirm that an “Everyone Button” is how it will be implemented, I can confirm that Facebook will be launching a tool to let users post public status updates. I’ve also heard that users will be able to subscribe to the public status feed of users, in a model that’s similar to Twitter.
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Yesterday tons of people wrote that my description of Facebook’s new status API as a “Twitter killer” was absolutely ludicrous. They claim that I don’t understand the difference between Facebook and Twitter and how Twitter is much more than just status updates. Trust me, I fully understand the difference between the two services. I would argue that the ability to “follow” people you aren’t connected to and the ability to @ reply (”at reply”) to other users is just a feature.
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Something about public proclamations tends to make them more official. Wedding vows, for instance, seem to seal the deal to all who are present. And Facebook relationship status updates kind of have the same effect. I guess that’s why it’s such a big deal that Prince Harry’s now ex-girlfriend Chelsea seemingly made their most recent break up official by changing her status on Facebook to no longer being in a relationship.

Most of us have been there before, either one of the participants of an ended relationship or a friend that merely witnesses the proclamation on our Facebook newsfeed. Not to mention, public proclamations on Facebook seem to be the trendy thing for celebrities to do these days. But why is Facebook, of all things, such a powerful factor in Harry and Chelsea’s breakup?
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That’s what Kara Swisher suggests this morning. I’ve been saying for weeks now that Facebook needs to hurry up and open their status API so they can put an end to Twitter’s growth but many people are skeptical of such a situation. The second best option would of course be to acquire the company. If you put two extremely hyped companies together do you create a lot of value though?
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Every week it seems like there’s another Twitter application that comes out that does analysis of all the tweets that have passed through the system. Whether it’s the countless leader boards, friend finding tools, or other tools such as those that spam your inbox with messages, there are TONS of applications. Facebook on the other hand, has provided developers with a way to access user information on a case by case basis. User’s must grant you access to their information before you can view their details.
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