Web 2.0 Summit: Panel on Facebook as a Platform
Discussion is led by entrepreneur and start-up adviser Dave McClure, with Seth Goldstein (CEO, SocialMedia.com), Ali Partovi (CEO, iLike), Keith Rabois (VP, Slide) and Lance Tokuda (CEO, RockYou) as panelists.
McClure: How many of you in the audience think the Facebook platform announcement was the most important tech event of 2007? Smattering of hands. Clearly, the audience hasn’t yet realized the vast implications of Vampires, Zombies, iLike and Pop Ur Zit.
McClure then says the announcement of the Facebook platform was the most important tech event of 2007 and perhaps even the most important event since Google’s IPO.
(For Mark Zuckerberg, maybe.)
Sweet! Lance “If you told me you were going to write me a check for $10 million for my Facebook widget, I’d say, ‘Forget it’ “ Tokuda is a panelist! (Wonder if he’ll take $10-million-and-1 for his Super Wall widget during the Q&A.)
Oh my. Lots of irrational Zuckeruberance onstage right now. Apparently Kara Swisher’s “Facebook Apps Are for Toddlers” post did not go over well with the current panel, which is giving her a big ol’ Facebook developer pig pile for colorfully describing their work as “silly, useless and time-wasting.” To these folks, “silly, useless and time-wasting” is apparently a business model. “Kara’s argument is ridiculous,” says Rabois. “Why do people watch movies and TV? Because they’re bored or looking for something to do to relieve stress in their lives. Apps are providing entertainment to users.”
High point: Takuda volunteers to build a Facebook widget just for Kara. Wonder if it will be anything like Super Wall–based on a pre-existing Facebook application and easily obsoleted.
Feels like a good time to duck out and boost my Facebook Vampire stats …