Friday, February 14, 2014

Choices abound in the world of social media -- look around, try other networks, be patient as they grow, get ready to GO ELSEWHERE.


Facebook's ONLY positive attribute now is its LARGE base of users; and that LARGE base of users attracts others who want the shared content of the users. 

Facebook is still benefiting from the work done five to ten years ago by people, like Jeff Hammerbacher, et al, who built the original "crashwhale-free" infrastructure ... FB ate Twitter's lunch by being reliable at a time when a lot of people were joining social networks and communicating via smartphones (i.e. a BIGGER, safer, friendlier, more reliable network than MySpace or Friendster ever had a prayer of having). 



Facebook has probably taken its market share for granted.  The arrogance of huge success is always difficult to avoid.  The earnest dweebiness of Facebook was cute five years ago, but now it's more than a little old.  The analogy is far from perfect, but it is sort of like how KMart and Sears ran out of gas in the 70s.  Eventually [maybe already], the day will arrive when that large base of users will eventually realize that there are places other than a shabby old KMart/Sears staffed by lame idiots and clueless asshholes who want to dick with the users because they can. 


The quantity and QUALITY of the connectedness possible within a social network matters.   For that reason, social media preference is stickier than beer preference.  It's all about networking ... but social media preference probably not permanent, because there are still different ways to network.   There will always be something better that comes along, but who knows what that might be.  What we know is that Facebook is showing its age.  Facebook's grip on the market relative to any other player might look overwhelming, but it is not so overwhelming when we consider the class of "anything BUT Facebook."  It is quite clear that people want choice.

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