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Recently there has been disturbing news for folks who are watching Facebook for their IPO. They lost accounts in Canada, UK, and America, and that has people really concerned. It also begs the larger question; is social media a fad?
Let’s first dispel any thought that Facebook will be losing members like their earliest competitor MySpace. Then we’ll dispel any inclination that Facebook is going to be a fad. With several million users in the United States and no real policy concerning removing accounts of those who have died and duplicate accounts these numbers are expected over time. There will be a plateau of users. With roughly 60% of the users outside of the United States and most of those areas still growing Facebook is likely going to hit the 1 Billion user mark the it’s owner and creator set for himself as a goal. Does that mean that we shouldn’t be careful with our basket of eggs? No. It means that there is clearly a cycle of technology that we need to stay aware of and act upon.
So rather than dropping your Facebook page and profile because it seems like a fad you should continue to build on your community and make sure you’re engaged and aware as your community embraces new technology and make sure you’re there when they do. Many companies are still not on the Facebook band-wagon and so this type of news about Facebook reinforces their reasons for not getting on 1) It’s a fad and will only last for a year or two 2) it’s too hard to keep up. The problem with this reasoning is that they haven’t been reaping the rewards that their faster more nimble competitors have and so now they feel like they were the ones justified in not spending the money on a flash-in-the-pan venture. When in reality they had better build that community quick so they can be on the bus when the next technology buzz comes by.
Keep in mind that it’s always the human touch that will make social media useful and if you ignore that by saying it is just a fad then you’ve missed the point all together. Get on, engage, and create the community that your business needs to survive the technology waves.
Let’s first dispel any thought that Facebook will be losing members like their earliest competitor MySpace. Then we’ll dispel any inclination that Facebook is going to be a fad. With several million users in the United States and no real policy concerning removing accounts of those who have died and duplicate accounts these numbers are expected over time. There will be a plateau of users. With roughly 60% of the users outside of the United States and most of those areas still growing Facebook is likely going to hit the 1 Billion user mark the it’s owner and creator set for himself as a goal. Does that mean that we shouldn’t be careful with our basket of eggs? No. It means that there is clearly a cycle of technology that we need to stay aware of and act upon.
So rather than dropping your Facebook page and profile because it seems like a fad you should continue to build on your community and make sure you’re engaged and aware as your community embraces new technology and make sure you’re there when they do. Many companies are still not on the Facebook band-wagon and so this type of news about Facebook reinforces their reasons for not getting on 1) It’s a fad and will only last for a year or two 2) it’s too hard to keep up. The problem with this reasoning is that they haven’t been reaping the rewards that their faster more nimble competitors have and so now they feel like they were the ones justified in not spending the money on a flash-in-the-pan venture. When in reality they had better build that community quick so they can be on the bus when the next technology buzz comes by.
Keep in mind that it’s always the human touch that will make social media useful and if you ignore that by saying it is just a fad then you’ve missed the point all together. Get on, engage, and create the community that your business needs to survive the technology waves.
