Bowe's Blog » community http://www.ericbowe.com ... viewing marketing through a consumer lens. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:05:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 The Death of Facebook? http://www.ericbowe.com/2009/08/the-death-of-facebook/ http://www.ericbowe.com/2009/08/the-death-of-facebook/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:45:02 +0000 Eric Bowe http://www.ericbowe.com/?p=5 the death of facebook

Something happened the other day that made me wonder about facebook’s future.  My mother, who is  70-years old, wanted to be my friend on facebook.  
 
This isn’t the first time I wondered about the future of the site.  When my technically-challenged wife joined facebook about one year ago, I felt facebook jumped the shark.  Now, with my mother on, well, let’s just say I believe ubiquity will kill the novelty. 
 
Although any immediate demise of facebook may be premature, I do wonder how ubiquity will shape the infatuation people have with the site.  Let’s face it, facebook’s novelty is wearing off (or gone) for many people:
  • It’s fun to connect with friends on a frequent basis (but not necessarily your parents).
  • It’s fun to find people you haven’t seen for years (but sometimes you may prefer not to be found).
  • It’s fun to grow “friends” from 10 to 50 to 100 to 500 to 1,000 (however, it’s not fun being guilted into adding people you barely know).
  • It was fun taking the first few quiz or two or ten (and thank god that “poking” subsided).

Novelty wanes on many sites.  Think about MySpace and Second Life – the sites still exist, but they are not the marketing darlings of old.  MySpace seems to have gone back to its musical roots.  Second Life is still out there, but when was the last time you heard about a virtual press conferences on Pontiac Island. 

Will facebook slip into obscurity?  Probably not for facebook-ites in the near future.  Long term facebook may be replaced by a new site (no different than facebook becoming a replacement for many MySpace pages).  It also may thrive and become the de facto social standard. 

As far as media obscurity, it is already happening.  Twitter is “in” and facebook is so 2008.

As far as marketing obscurity, the jury is still out.  Marketers in general are struggling with social networks.  Many marketers can answer the questions: What is in it for the marketer?  What is in it for the fan?  Sure many marketers have a facebook page and fans.  But for many people becoming a fan of a brand is like friending your parents.  For most people there is little value, and it can be annoying.

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