Not sure. Facebook started as a HotOrNot clone apparently, and MySpace was a flaming web design disaster for its first years before it became a nice website for niche music, but then died entirely.
Facebook was (and is) predatory but that is not what is meant by "suck". When Facebook came out, it satisfied a huge demand, and was exactly what people wanted, regardless of how you feel about it ethically.
I read the thread on metafilter, apparently its sponsored by the John Muir whatever and is for people who enjoy sketching nature and sharing their sketches, I think.