Quote:
Originally Posted by ShellyCrash
Surfers are fickle and social networking profiles don't seem to have the same longevity as say something like email addresses (how many people still use yahoo?). Millions of users flipped from Myspace to Facebook, and from Friendster to Myspace before that. In the online community space surfers will go to wherever the action is and if someone comes out with a network that in some way provides an edge over what they currently are using history has shown they won't hesitate to drop it like it's hot.
The same could be said for search engines. How many people went from gopher to alta vista, alta vista to lykos, etc. Google came and Google changed the game. Facebook is in a very strong position to do the same, but I think they have a few things working against them.
Facebook doesn't have the same brand loyalty as say a company like Google does, or even better Apple. The majority of facebook users don't seem to be huge champions of the brand. The company already doesn't rate high on the trust scale with it's audience and I don't get the impression users really feel "invested" in the company's success.
I guess I just haven't seen enough evidence to convince me Facebook will grow beyond the social networking box. I agree the Like button has helped futher integrate Facebook with many different aspects of the web, their smart phone apps are decent and their integration with other apps is a good move, but I dont think facebook offers anything that users feel to be irreplaceable by another competitor in the space.
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What you're saying is logical, if you look at things strictly in regards to satiating one's surfers merely on a company's main site. However, Zuckerberg and crew are designing according to a developer perspective (ie. Make the platform easy to integrate into (and beneficial for) other major sites). As a result internet users, despite any misgivings about the brand, will have a greater tendency to use it because the FB login and other related services are becoming relatively ubiquitous.
Notice that twitter is following a similar developmental process.
To give some comparison in terms of successful implementation of FB's (and twitter's) platform integration, look at OpenID's relative lack of success in terms of penetrating the login interfaces of major media sites.
What I'm pointing out is that Facebook is not just a site. They are a platform. For those who don't want to use the Facebook.com page, that is fine. But any developer here would be wise to take note of the API and other developer tools that Facebook is offering.
Many of the mainstream sites that I visit nowadays pick up either my FB or Twitter login automatically. Yes, I know that I'm pretty much being tracked as to my whereabouts online, but I'm fascinated with how the platform is being embraced by other developers and designers.
In our industry it might not be that easy to integrate their platform as some persons don't want their FB friends and family knowing that they automatically logged into Playboy.com or are sharing/liking an article or picture from that site. However, there are many opportunities present that could be very beneficial to certain sites within our industry (I've noticed that FB's Playboy Party app is live now and is picking up in popularity). We just have to be creative.
You never know...we just might eventually end up with
Facebook TV, among other things...