An interesting syndicated article appeared today in The Times stating that, according to the "younger generation", Facebook is dead, buried & uncool, with users deserting in their droves.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/facebook-dead-buried-teens-1430389
The (original) article implies that the only use for FB is now to keep (historically) in touch with family/relatives with most peer-to-peer contact being by first contact apps such as Twitter, WhatsApp etc.
Being of the 'older' generation, I have never reconciled how FB works effectively for direct business, nor ever seen a business case. With LinkedIn is in demise, Twitter etc grows in use and allows a more targeted approach.
What's key is that, whether you agree or not, the generation being talked about is the next retail generation who will consume information and transact business in ways I (we) could never imagine.
So, is it an effective business tool ? is the writing on wall ? Is FB a place NOT to be seen on for any up and coming businesses ? ....mmmmhhhh,....there'll be mixed opinions on that one ;-)
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I've always used FB as a place to get away from work. It's great for the car club, badminton group, dog groups etc.
Great if the kids abandon it, and it becomes less open to spamming by businesses. Businesses "approaching" people on social media is a whole thread of it's own, and more mixed opinions I guess!
Not so sure about the death of Facebook....... I'm always seeing pictures of my daughter at uni, drunk and passed out on a floor somewhere lol.
Interestingly, the article states :
"In my school research, the closest friends are connected to each other via Snapchat, WhatsApp is used to communicate with quite close friends, and Twitter the wider friends. Instagram can include strangers and is used a little differently," Miller said.
"Facebook, on the other hand, has become the link with older family, or even older siblings who have gone to university."
Quite accurate then ?
Geoff Norfolk said:
Good I cannot get my heads round it
Like Geoff all I see is my university attending daughter showing her mates the pleasures she finds in being shit faced
Twitter just need to write a sentence in regards to Bespoke lawncare every week and keeps my web site on page 1 for search in my locality.
That people didn't learn a lesson from MySpace is telling... bought by a desperate NewsCorp for $580M and sold less than 6 years later for $30M after losing millions trying to keep it afloat.
It doesn't the AD stats are awful, ironically I posted the results on FB! :)
B2B probably a complete waste of time.
B2C if people choose to let you send info i.e. advertise to them via them "liking" your FB page, hell yeah, it would be rude not to take their money, if they want to spend it.
Is it a cost effective method? Try it and see. My guess is for a one man band the odds are stacked against you but for a small company who have someone to champion their SMN aspect of the business probably the ROI is OK.
Facebook has it's uses, but the 'young' will always follow the latest trends and move on - especially when mum and dad become members! Imagine their reaction if you regularly appeared legless in their 'Uni bar'!
Even so, I can not believe some of the stuff that goes on Facebook, but it appears that this is the way of the world now ie 'I am so important, I owe it to the world to show them the meal I am about to eat!'
The secret to social media, in my opinion, is connection, information and knowledge. When social media works at its best is in passive mode. i.e. carrying out a specific task or transferring knowledge, without a concious thought about the transfer mechanism.
The moment Facebook becomes really useful is when everyone stops trying to find a use for it....probably when many have moved on.
I also think Facebook missed a huge business opportunity by not focussing on business from the start.
Interesting small Guardian article today further questioning if Facebook's usage has peaked and can survive :
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/23/facebook-losing-appeal...
What do you see happening ?
I use FB for business and it brings in about 60% of my work. I advertise though it and can target age, sex, location and interests amongst others. Its also good to have direct written feedback on a page which future customers can see. I've run competitions and done free gardening giveaways to charities on FB. All In all a good resource, and if the younger generation are generally moving to Instagram and Twitter then no problem, I'll look to adapt in the next few years as we all do. A few years ago everyone was raving about Friends Reunited and the reach of FB negated its use, I'm sure the same will happen to FB, but for the present, it is beneficial to me.
Facebook fights back:
Princeton Said Facebook Will Lose 80% Of Users — FB Debunks Them in 5 Crushing Graphs
http://www.policymic.com/articles/80035/princeton-said-facebook-wil...
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