Application tabs and boxes are going away- at some point.

Facebook platform has changed a lot in the past few years.

For the better?

That’s for others to judge.

The tech press loves condemning Microsoft for its failed KIN launch and Google for the failure of Wave and Buzz.

But look at Facebook.

Questions and Places are both bungled, confusing launches.

Is Facebook becoming as complacent as the companies it intends to replace?

When will absurd patent races stop?

Facebook recently purchased the Friendster portfolio of patents.

We understand that Facebook has to protect itself against litigation and competitors. It’s generally believed that they won’t use these patents to pursue competitors.

But why is it even an issue?

Patents serve an important function in protecting innovation when capital, time, and creativity is invested. But patents on business services like social networks don’t protect innovation. They squash it with the threat of litigation.

If anyone claims to know the point of, understand, or use Facebook Questions, they’re lying.

For now.

There’s a lot of chatter about the next big announcement: Facebook’s arrival at 500 Million users.

Our question: are you on board?

If you haven’t heard, Facebook Gifts are dead.

A little over a year ago, we noted the changes to Gifts caused by Facebook Platform. At that time, we thought the profile redisign might revivify Gifts as a product.

It appears that it didn’t.

Applications successfully cannibalized Gifts. Now it’s up to developers to figure out exactly what users will want to give.

Facebook recently announced that they’re removing third party status posting options due to lack of use.

Are you affected as a developer?

As brand managers, are you using the “Like Button” or a “Facebook Page”? It’s difficult to decide which is better. The Like Button may involve less friction. But do pages provide a more familiar experience for users?

Has anyone else noticed that Facebook’s “Share counter” is broken? The “counter” functionality flits in and out without any discernible pattern. The outages range from small sites to blog behemoths like Mashable.

What priority level does Facebook give its widgets?

Facebook didn’t make a keynote appearance.

What does that mean for integration with iPhone 4?