Is Facebook GeoCities, AOL or Friendster?

It looks like the Facebook backlash (aka “Is Facebook Friendster 2.0?” aka app spam) is gathering force.

Earlier this week Howard Rheingold, whose opinions on social networks, virtual communities and smart mobs probably carry a bit more weight than others, complained about “Facebook friending spam“, “the really awful message board” and “silly apps”, before concluding that “eventually it [i.e. Facebook] will die a slow death… They won’t even be AOL.”

Interestingly, none of the comments disagree.