How Much Do You Love Facebook?

Earlier today, Mark Zuckerberg was happy to show off Facebook's "new home on Android". Many sites and blogs were in a rumor frenzy for the past few days about a Facebook phone which, in the end, fell flat. Today's Facebook announcement was to showcase Facebook Home which is simply a new homescreen launcher.

If you are an average Android user, odds are, you're using the stock launcher that came with the phone. Some users will opt to use a third party launcher like Nova or Apex, mainly for the extensive customization options they have. More advanced users will flash other ROM's that have that capability built in. Personally, all the Android devices I own have been rooted, but I still choose to use the default Android launcher. I just prefer the way it looks.

So my question is, how much do you love Facebook to want to have the social network set as your homescreen? I use Facebook, and I use it quite a bit, and I will most likely try out this launcher... but I can promise you now, that it will not stay on my phone for long. I do not need to go through Facebook to get to the rest of my phone.

On the other hand... Home is a pretty launcher. With other launchers, you get the ability to customize your device however you want. You get to truly make it yours. With Facebook, you don't get that customization. Instead, you get a locked down experience that is the same for everyone. And it works!

Facebook has been trying for years to make Facebook your one-stop-shop on the internet. Facebook doesn't want you to ever leave their site. While that is still out of reach as far as the desktop version of the web goes, a homescreen launcher on your mobile device is one way to make sure that you have to go through Facebook to do anything on your phone. And that is something I do not want.

If you are someone that can't get enough of Facebook, then you will be happy to know that Facebook Home will come preinstalled on the HTC First, available on April 16th through AT&T. Starting price is a very modest $99 with a 2 year contract. The low price point says to me that this phone is aimed at the younger generation. A generation that has grown up inside the walls of a number of social media sites, so this will be like second nature to them. I will truly be surprised if anyone over 20 years of age buys this phone for their own personal use.

Like I said, I will try the launcher (when it is available for my phone), but I can already tell that I won't use ot for long. I just don't need that much Facebook in my life.