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Comment by rwhitman | Hacker News Reader

And that, my friends, is why its risky to build your business on top of FB Graph API.

In terms of reliability, FB is not twitter, but it certainly isn't google either...

I came here to post this same thing, but I just started thinking about it. When was the last time FB went down like this and took a bunch of core functionality down with it? Has it ever happened? And how long are they down...30 mins? Is that 30 mins of downtime every few years really more damaging than that the (potential) value that integration with the graph API or FB Connect can bring? Yes, you look like an idiot to a few users, but maybe you have 100x as many users as you'd have otherwise. I think the real reason not to build your business on the FB API (or Twitter or whoever) is strategic, not because of potential downtime.

They had a BGP-related screw-up a couple of weeks ago as well.

I fully agree with you. If your app is heavily social it would be ridiculous not to leverage the worlds largest social network, even with very occasional down-time.

You're right, I should have phrased it "And that, my friends, is one of the many reasons its risky to build your entire business on top of FB Graph API."

Just went through a nightmare building a product entirely on top of fb graph. FB fails, a lot. And not just in terms of downtime, in terms of inconsistently implemented technology, poor documentation, lack of transparency, inconsistent policies etc.

Not saying don't use FB ever, just that it's risky.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I won't do FB apps for clients anymore, despite the high demand and great pay. It's just way too stressful to have the clients always angry at me because of the platform's shortcomings.

Amen! I tell ya, I have had so much stress over the last few months as the direct result of this. Well put.

If you have 100x as many users, you will look like an idiot to 100x as many users too.

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