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Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

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Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#51
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These functions in times past were done with the laborous process of making a million letters or phone calls or in many cases (like my hometown page) scarcely made or not made at all. Or with Geocities? FB hardly invented the concept of a page on the internet where events are listed. I'm sure it provides some nice functionality around calendaring and networking, but we didn't go from xeroxed fliers to Facebook with…

[deleted]

You couldn't be bothered to read two more sentences that demonstrate that he gets the difference, yet you could take the time to write a response?

Some of us simply take issue with the revisionist history where we went from the stone age to this new concept of socialization brought to us by Facebook.

Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#52
post #5

My status updates have gone from about 1/day a couple of years ago, to about 1/week now. Even though I've blocked all apps, etc., I find FB to be too noisy. The only thing I like about FB is that I can keep track of friends' events, like babies, marriages, breakups, trips, etc.

Agreed. Facebook has turned into a stream of blabber and pictures of people's kids (no offence). What is NOT noisy is: * Path (just my close friends) * Pair (just my girlfriend) * Google+ (the "what's hot" news feed is actually pretty interesting)

Out of curiousity, what's the value-add of Pair versus just using SMS/MMS? I looked at their website but I didn't "get it".

Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#53

66% of users are tuning in? That's great! Every time a Facebook usage topic comes up there's the usual round of scorn usually backed up by a strange display of plumage involving the sentence, "I just deleted my facebook yesterday/last month/last year/never used it." And that's okay. But I want to point out to my fellow HN-goers why facebook is so wonderful. There's also a note about privacy at the bottom[1] since tha…

I love that it allows me to keep up with those people; I hate what they find interesting to post.

IOW: because I follow folks on Twitter by "subject" and not by friendship, I get lots of really relevant interesting content.

Perhaps I'm just not using it properly? Like, I miss communities concept from Orkut...

Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#54
post #13
post #6

FB seems to get into a negative press spiral lately because of the underperforming IPO...suddenly its all just a fad because people want to read about this new super company failing... But the truth is, it still has CRAZY numbers in terms of Daily/Weekly/Monthly Active users and average time spent on the site. Its a behemoth and will not fall!

Actually, the "Facebook is boring" numbers starting showing up before the IPO. Now they are just getting more attention. The problem is a real one for Facebook, whether it gets in the press and on blogs or not.

They hit the ceiling, I would like to know how this little plot will develop over the next 2 quarters:

http://www.google.com/trends/?q=facebook

Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#55
post #22

The metric that continues to really impress me about Facebook: 58% of users log in each day (that's 526mm DAU out of 901mm MAU, according to its SEC filing). That's roughly the same percentage as it was in 2007, when I first heard that kind of stat. I love customer surveys, but I don't think people are good at estimating how they actually spend their time or how frequently they do things.

What does this DAU indicate, actually - are these pageviews on a facebook.com website that are associated with potential advertising?

Or are they related to the numerous and growing uses of FB as an identity provider?

Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#56

I find the idea of Facebook getting boring very interesting. Do people complain about email or gmail getting boring? Their address book? Skype? "Safari is boring these days"? For many people, Facebook is a medium. My girlfriend is busy on the iPad writing stuff in her family's private group. I am just going through the timeline looking for interesting articles just like I do on HN. Now I wonder what people who consid…

I would say that Facebook positioned themselves as a news outlet, not a generic communications medium. In the beginning, the news was fresh, you were learning all kinds of interesting things about your friends; many of whom you had previously lost touch with. That was exciting and interesting.

After some time passes, you've learned everything you want to know about said people and the information starts to become stale and repetitive. Combined with others feeling the same way and pulling back, a feedback loop emerges where good content starts to dwindle even quicker, worsening the problem.

If I came to HN six months from now and all of the articles were still about the Facebook IPO, I think I would probably say that HN has become boring too. That is where, I believe, the sentiment is coming from.

Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#57
post #17

I think facebook should charge 75 cents per month to use it. This will weed out users who just don't care; it will give more information to advertisers as well. Oh and what's that? 75 cents per month actually ends up tripling their income! (if they now get $9 per year off the seventy-five cents, plus the same four in ad revenue.) Anyway if even 75 cents per month is too much, then they can go ahead and make OEM deals…

Sorry but terrible idea. Not even 1% of facebook users would stick around. And before you argue that 1% of the current user base would be great, the usefulness of a social network is greatly diminished if your friends aren't there, making eventually even the last 1% leave.

And your objection to the OEM model?

Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#58
post #30

We have a 18yo intern at the office this summer, who keeps saying "Facebook is becoming a ghost-town", when we task him with using FB API.

Where are the people in your intern's circle of friends going? I'm honestly curious.

The people in my facebook feed are the usual set of people who post. Nothing has seemed to change of late.

Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#59
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Facebook has turned into a stream of blabber and pictures of people's kids (no offence). What is NOT noisy is: * Path (just my close friends) * Pair (just my girlfriend) * Google+ (the "what's hot" news feed is actually pretty interesting)

Out of curiousity, what's the value-add of Pair versus just using SMS/MMS? I looked at their website but I didn't "get it".

From what I gather, it's supposed to feel more intimate and personal than the generic feel you have when using an SMS/MMS client.

Re: Facebook 'boring'? 1 in 3 users are tuning it out

#60
post #55
post #22

The metric that continues to really impress me about Facebook: 58% of users log in each day (that's 526mm DAU out of 901mm MAU, according to its SEC filing). That's roughly the same percentage as it was in 2007, when I first heard that kind of stat. I love customer surveys, but I don't think people are good at estimating how they actually spend their time or how frequently they do things.

What does this DAU indicate, actually - are these pageviews on a facebook.com website that are associated with potential advertising? Or are they related to the numerous and growing uses of FB as an identity provider?

Daily Active Users / Monthly Active Users
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