Oh snap! Seriously, is there really any question about who developed Facebook? Apparently Aaron J. Greenspan (not Alan Greenspan in case you were confused) says that he came up with the original idea for Facebook. Aaron developed “FaceNet” which leveraged a web service called the houseSYSTEM. Well guess what? I developed a social network also and launched it around the same time of Facebook.
At the time, Frusic, a social network for friends and musicians, was more robust than any of these systems. Unfortunately, since then the system has stopped working efficiently but the site still remains as a tribute to my past failure. You don’t see me crying to the New York Times about how Facebook stole my idea. Well, I didn’t go to Harvard and I have absolutely no connection to Mark Zuckerberg so I’m not quite sure how to pull the connection.
Back around 2004 everyone was building social networks. Mashable has documented the continuation of that trend. I have been hired by a number of startups since then that all want to be the next Facebook or popular social network. While there is still the potential for developing niche social networks, becoming the next Facebook is going to be extremely challenging. For all those that think they came up with an idea similar to Facebook before it was launched: congratulations! Unfortunately you didn’t have the same luck or resources that Mark Zuckerberg had at the time. Oh and by the way: I was one of the founders of Google. Just thought you should know.
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All this "I thought I facebook first" thing is so laughable. I have started a 'No! I invented facebook' group just for fun:Join up here:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=238185201…..
Comment by half-geek — September 1, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
All this "I thought I facebook first" thing is so laughable. I have started a 'No! I invented facebook' group just for fun:
Join up here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23818520176...
Comment by half-geek — September 1, 2007 @ 1:49 pm
[...] Greenspan (Aaron, not Alan) is claimant #3… but wait, perhaps it was Your Momma Nick O’Neill: For all those that think they came up with an idea similar to Facebook before it was launched: [...]
Pingback by Did YOU Invent Facebook? Take a Number. | Zoli’s Blog — September 1, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
I had no idea you were a founder of Google! Pretty impressive resume Nick!
Comment by Developersagent.com — September 1, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
I had no idea you were a founder of Google! Pretty impressive resume Nick!
Comment by Developersagent.com — September 2, 2007 @ 12:01 am
Great blog. What I really would love to know is how to view people's profiles w/o being linked to them. Any advice? Thanks.
Comment by Glen — September 2, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
Great blog. What I really would love to know is how to view people’s profiles w/o being linked to them. Any advice? Thanks.
Comment by Glen — September 2, 2007 @ 8:59 pm