Facebook opened up to all a while back. I joined.

Usually, these contact networks leave me cold. The business contact networks are a bit too…business-y…..and MySpace is a glitter-covered mess.

Facebook sits somewhere in the middle. It proves the value of usability. It’s easy, transparent, and does what it says on the box.

It’s also a hugely, hugely powerful revenue platform:

“Facebook Platform, which allows companies to build applications — and entire ad or fee-driven businesses — inside Facebook is a brilliant move, which could given Facebook the opportunity to become the next Google. The secret to Google’s success with AdSense was sharing revenue with publishers and letting them figure out how to optimize the revenue. At launch, Facebook isn’t taking a cut of any revenue generated by businesses using the Facebook Platform, but it could easily do so.

Following the crack cocaine model, i.e. give it away for free then charge once users are addicted, businesses that achieve profitable growth through Facebook would have no choice but to accept a revenue share agreement. “