Editorial: Open Graph Apps contradict the point of Facebook

So Facebook rolled out the full launch of it's Open Graph at their keynote this week.  60 Open Graph apps have been announced to inspire developers to adopt the new platform: implementing 'verbs' to better literate what you're doing, and unique designs to individualise their presence within the realm of your timeline.

These applications are all fair and good in their execution; but their presence on Facebook is the antithesis to what the social network is.  Open Graph Apps are an indirect attempt at the elimination of social curation.  As Twitter acquires Summify, you can see this general trend amongst consumers continuing into the future.  Sure, you have a choice with what applications you accept; but beyond clicking the accept button, the app could exercise it's autonomy and share all details freely, without giving you the opportunity to curate this before going live.

This is an ideal shared by many.  It's the reason why you get distressed or annoyed when a Facebook app has posted to your wall, without you posting to it yourself.  Spotify was a golden example of how every user needs to be able to curate his or her outgoing presence, and now it's extended to sixty applications worth of open sourcing personality.

Social networking does not mimic real-life, in-fact it's nowhere near the functional complexities of such an experience.  Instead, it's an extension of a few concepts that you find throughout life: communication, engagement and self appraisal.  With these thee cornerstones came ego, and with ego came curation.  We don't have to look out-of-place on social networking, whereas the 'egg on my face' moment happens to me near-constantly in real-life.  It's a subconcious usage trend that we all exercise to it's fullest, have you ever deleted the clutter of content that's gone without 'likes' or 'comments' off your profiles at points?

Our timelines are a reflection of our personality, not the whole thing.