In 2007, MySpace reached critical mass with just 3 million members and the thought began to creep into everyone’s mind that the giant may soon be toppled. After a combination of technical & security fowl-ups and a surge in spam, the giant, indeed fell.
Facebook, fueled by early adopters saw an influx of new users who jumped from the sinking MySpace ship, quickly grew and eventually monetized.
Today, TechCrunch announced that Facebook is approaching 500 million users (100 million more than just 5 months ago).
As even more users flock to Facebook, and the social media site begins to be just as noisy an informer as Twitter, we must ask ourselves:
"Has Facebook Jumped the Shark?"
If so, what might this mean for social media in general?
I don't see any basis to suggest yet that they've jumped the shark, early adopters going to another medium would not constitute 'jumping the shark' as I know the term. It really refers to a pause or leveling of the growth rate. They are having challenges with some of their monetization strategies, namely the private information issue which the users balked at. There are other SM sites out there but I think most are more niched. Facebook remains the most ubiquitous SM network out there. When 60 year old people are using it, the masses have been captured!
ReplyDeleteCould it 'jump the shark", sure, but I don't see any evidence yet.
I'm Jim Flanagan and I personally approved of this message!
I don't see evidence of this right now. And what else is there? Maybe Google can put together a real competing social network, but their track record there is ... shaky at best.
ReplyDeleteI think the real question around Facebook is when marketers will give it the attention it deserves from a PPC and SEO perspective.
Ready, set, jump....into the pool of "Google Me".
ReplyDeleteWait..it's not quite ready yet.
But when it is I will be the first to jump. I don't like the way facebook works, the user interface, the navigation, or the cheeky useless apps...I mean it doesn't even have a compelling blog function (talk about a waste of ad content matching possibilities).
I do like the fact that ALL my friends are on there, collected neatly in one place...
I will happily move to a more intuitive, private, and application rich platform and drag my friends over when one emerges.
I do have to admit in all honesty though as a 36 year old professional woman, that the main reason I joined was because I could not grow my mafia in mafia wars large enough with my friend base on myspace. So I went to facebook to expand my mafia empire, and I tolerated its confusing interface and have continued to stay there because that is where all my friends are...for right now.
I also don't mind the ads because they are things that interest me!
Right now, no. True many younger people are going for the next best thing. But it is still growing and still useful. Social Media is evolving and people can be finicky. But there are also many who are loyal and don't see a need to go for the next thing.
ReplyDeleteBut of course they have to constantly reinvent themselves or become like AOL.
Watch out for Google: Me, Buzz, Android, Chrome, Wave, Voice, GoogleTV... ;)
ReplyDeleteGotta Love Modular. Especially when it's Open Source and JavaFX Compatible!
See what others are saying about "Has Facebook Jumped the Shark?" on LinkedIn.
ReplyDelete