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The end of Facebook

blogs.forbes.com

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Re: The end of Facebook

#101

Post by blhack »

"The more you tighten your grip, Zuckerberg, the more users will slip through your fingers."

To me, the end of facebook was when facebook started trying too hard to dictate to me how I would use the site.

I don't see a chronological timeline of what my friends are doing (a la twitter), I see some posts that facebook thinks I'll be interested in.

What the hell is that, facebook? Most of the things I see now are from people I really don't care about at all. The only reason I ever log in anymore is to see what a group I belong to on there is up to.

And what have you done to the pictures? Why can't I right click them and send a link to one of my friends? Facebook, maybe you've forgotten this part, but those annoying people using your website are the reason that your website exists at all. When you take stuff like that away, and when it's obvious why you're doing it (you don't want people to see facebook's pictures without facebook's branding on them [the container page, I mean, that you'll see if you use an approved sharing mechanism to share pictures]), it feels like a giant slap in the face.

There is nothing fun happening on facebook anymore, and the things that I've posted to it in the past are now impossible to find (keep scrolling and scolling and scrolling and triggering that javascript to load more things, right!?).

I don't really feel like I'm connected to the people that I'm supposedly "connected" to anymore. It sucks.

The other reason I pretty much never use facebook, is http://thingist.com/ -- a few people have said that it reminds them a lot of '05, '06 era facebook, which is cool to hear. There are no apps, there is no algo to determine what it shows you, it's just a very simple way of sharing things with a group of people (and, more importantly, keeping it organized into a list [songs I like, quotes, tools for programmers, documentaries you should watch, etc]).

Full disclosure: thingist is my side project, and my addiction. Obviously I'm not a designer, so the design is horrible, but the functionality works, and I'm addicted to it.

Re: The end of Facebook

#102

Post by sixtofour »

hyperbovine wrote: post #92
JonnieCache wrote: post #3

This is borne out by my experience. A slowly increasing number of my friends are cutting down their use, and eventually leaving. This might just be due to my cohort of friends getting older, but the article claims it is a general trend. What is definitely true, is that nobody I know feels anything positive about facebook, at all. It is seen simply as a sinister, addictive[1] necessary evil. This is the case regardles…

> What is definitely true, is that nobody I know feels anything positive about facebook, at all. It is seen simply as a sinister, addictive[1] necessary evil. You and your friends probably spend so much time online for work that you reproach yourselves for excesses like Facebook. (FWIW I'm no different.) The majority of the normal, non-technical users I know don't view Facebook as evil. They just think of it as somet…

"I mean, do you know anyone who really wants to sign up for Facebook but hasn't gotten around to it yet?"

12 year olds.

And so Facebook's customer development changes to that of cigarette manufacturers. As long as 12 year olds continue to turn 13, Facebook can replace the thirty-somethings that drop off.

Re: The end of Facebook

#103

Post by sixtofour »

rsuttongee wrote: post #78
jordan0day wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, at this point why would they IPO (except to get rich[er], of course)? Obviously they could grow in some unforeseen way, but if they don't have an ace up their sleeve, what business reason would they have for needing additional capital?

Well, there may or may not be a pressing business need for capital, but I'm sure a lot of the current shareholders would see an IPO as a good exit. I suppose it's possible that facebook could still be acquired, but given how large they are, and the huge amount of cash/stock it would require to buy them, that seems unlikely to me.

Too big to float.

Re: The end of Facebook

#104

Post by useflyer »

jetz wrote: post #21

First wave of SNs were aimed at dating as the lure (Friendster). Second wave of SNs were/are aimed at social sharing of everything and anything with everybody and anybody (FB). Third wave of SNs are aimed/will be aimed at "real" social sharing of everything and anything with only people you choose (Tusulog.com, our start-up). We're focused on one main thought: you don't, by default, socialize with all your friends pl…

Honest feedback:

I visited Tusulog (the name should be re-evaluated) and there was very little description of what it is, what it does, why its good, etc.

I then registered and was told that the service was meaningless unless I invited friends. Ok. Try to wedge out of the chicken and the egg, or piggyback on something else, because in all honesty, theres no way I'm inviting friends to a service of questionable value.

Something something "its not what your service does, its how people use it". Right now, for all I know, Tusulog is the most genius website ever made, I just wouldn't get to the part where I discover that.

Re: The end of Facebook

#105

Post by beerfarmer »

I'm not a huge fan of Social networking and/or providing Facebook with my personal info, but as a musician and small business owner the idea of not having a social profile seems a little ridiculous. I also agree, it's going to be difficult to find or build a Facebook killer, but what about a network that works with Facebook offering some of the services they offer with less non-sense, more utilities and a level of customer service that is not possible with a user group of hundreds of millions. There is no doubt that Facebook is great at social networking but that still doesn't mean it's annoying. I use my Facebook account almost everyday but rarely do I post status updates or even look at my news feed. I do, however, like the access it gives me to other utilities on the web with the little effort it requires once you have a FB account. Much of what I do for work would not happen if I needed to create accounts for every service I wanted to check out.

With that said, sorry for the plug...I created http://fishtaank.com, AKA, my weekend project... for the last three years. It's a small collection of open source scripts I've found on the web that allows musicians and businesses to create a better social profile thats focuses more on what they do/offer as opposed to what they say. Trivia question of the day? who cares...

http://fishtaank.com/profile/Beerfarmer -

Re: The end of Facebook

#106

Post by ralfd »

jordan0day wrote: post #57
hvs wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree, but one point that he briefly mentions that I think is even more interesting is the idea of a Facebook IPO. Consider that Facebook isn't going anywhere (most likely) and will be a major company for a long time. That still doesn't change the fact that if they've already done all of the their major growing (user-wise, I'm assuming that they will continue to look for new revenue sources), their IPO c…

Yeah, at this point why would they IPO (except to get rich[er], of course)? Obviously they could grow in some unforeseen way, but if they don't have an ace up their sleeve, what business reason would they have for needing additional capital?

Major point for an IPO: SEC regulation requires businesses with more than $10 million in assets and over 499 shareholders to go public.

Re: The end of Facebook

#107

Post by yahtzee »

Hold up everyone. Where did these statistics come from? Did they come from a credible source?

Even if Facebook at high, and comes down a bit, it is so integrated in the fabric of the internet, which is a major hurdle to an AOL-like down fall.

Re: The end of Facebook

#108

Post by pnathan »

jetz wrote: post #87
pnathan wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went over to Tusulog.com, but I didn't find anything to make me want to use it. :(

Thanks. Our site, as all SNs, are useful only if your friends are there. Classic chicken/egg situation. If you join and have a few friends over there believe me you'll say "I wish all my friends were here then everything become much easier".

well -

Can I at least get a preview before I give away my credentials (say, do you support openID?)

What is so awesome about your site (how do I spell it anyway >.What does it offer better than dreamwidth, facebook, or twitter?

Understand that I want to get ROI on my signups at this point: I don't join sites just to join, or out of boredom.

Or, to put it another way: market at me; I see nothing to make me stick around your site.

Re: The end of Facebook

#109

Post by PotatoEngineer »

alinajaf wrote: post #62
bxr wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A slowly increasing number of my friends are cutting down their use, and eventually leaving. I know what they say about the plural of antidote, but I've personally noticed the same. I use it less, and when I do use it, I notice the people I care about on facebook are using it less too. Everything you say mirrors the response to facebook I've been seeing. Its no longer a toy, its just that thing you have and slowly wo…

Perhaps you mean anecdote?

I believe the plural of antidote is "I'm not sure which snake just bit me, just give me all the antitoxins!"

Re: The end of Facebook

#110

Post by rm445 »

makeramen wrote: post #8

This was a rather pointless article. Yes, every company will reach a point where growth slows. Yes, every company will have users who quit. Yes, valuations are high right now. Yes, many companies will get replaced by better ones that come along. And yes, it is implied that Facebook is a company. How does any of this lead to "the end of facebook"?? The author even states "Facebook is still growing very fast in terms o…

Because when other social networks have stopped growing, they have massively shrunk as the next big thing has come along.

Of course, it's very possible that that argument is mixing up cause and effect, and this is still a relatively young field. But the implication is that, if facebook isn't relevant to pretty much everyone, then it will eventually be eaten up by something that is.

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