There is an evil temptation that far too many companies are having trouble resisting – the temptation to launch a new product or service on Facebook.
Every month, when the number of Facebook users seem to go up by 100 million or so – to a current tally of 750 million (let’s be serious, about half are most likely fictional or animals), the CEOs of most entertainment and technology companies get the crazy urge to somehow “tap into that customer base.”
This crazy urge must be resisted. Why? So Facebook is destroyed and the people of the world can go on to a much more interesting existence.
In my opinion, doing business with Facebook is the equivalent of doing business with China. Companies feel they need break into the Chinese market because there is FREAKING 1.3 BILLION PEOPLE THERE! “If we just get 0.0001% we’ll be successful. It’s a no brainer!”
And nearly every company goes there with their hat in their hand – giving every insane concession imaginable just to get in the door – and, eventually, come home with a giant footprint on their ass.
Reminder: The Chinese government can do whatever they want. The deal signed means nothing. If they don’t like your attitude or your product or just feel you’re getting a little “too friendly”, they’ll cut you off and send you home a miserable failure. And it doesn’t matter how many cartons of cigarettes or bottles of Slivovitz you give local officials. When it’s over, it’s over.
This is also true of Facebook.
I firmly believe Facebook could absolutely destroy Zynga (and numerous other companies) overnight. They have that power.
Granted, there is too much money at stake with Zynga’s upcoming IPO, so they probably won’t exert that power. But do you think the Zynga executives are going to do anything to antagonize Facebook… ever? Mark Zuckerberg knows the power he has over Mark Pincus.
That is another reason why Facebook must be stopped. Too many people are believing the hype and are afraid of being left behind.
Every day, Facebook dominates technology news. Press release after press release announces Facebook’s new initiatives and services. Their PR department sends out a press release, websites rewrite them slightly and, pow, you have technology news with a narrative controlled by… Facebook.
This week came a “leak” that they will be going into the Music business by blending streaming services such as Spotify, rdio and MOG into the Facebook user experience.
After all, why should anyone have to leave Facebook to listen to music? Why should anyone have to leave Facebook ever?
(I am working on a product that integrates Facebook into my morning shower. There must be a way to combine my Facebook news feed with the water from the shower head so my friend’s status updates directly enter my pores and absorb into my brain. But I digress….)
Spotify is a great service. They don’t need Facebook. People on Facebook don’t complain about having to toggle away from Facebook in order to go onto Spotify. It ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Spotify and other media companies need to resist the temptation of the 750 million non-paying users (which includes millions of dogs and cats who don’t really care what songs they listen to).
And look at this growth chart (left). 7.3 billion users in 2015 vs. only 7.2 billion people alive on the planet!
Major media companies (including my parent company Manka Bros. Studios) need to realize that Facebook needs them more than they need Facebook. (Manka Bros. is actually working on a ‘Facebook Killer’ – Caligula – to launch later this year but I fear it will be more of the same.)
Content is the driver of everything in media. Put a great movie on a crappy 13 inch black & white TV and it’s still a great movie and people will watch it. Put a shitty movie on a 110″ inch HD television screen with Dolby SurroundSound, movie lighting and a cocktail, and it’s still a shitty movie that no one will watch.
Facebook needs to realize that the only reason they are popular is because we all have this urge to see what our friends from high school and college look like now. That’s it really. It’s not to watch “The Dark Knight” for 30 Facebook Credits or buy pigs on “Farmville” (millions do it, I know, and why not? – it’s right there in front of us and we’re freakin’ bored with our lives).
But I think it’s time to break away and see what else is out there in the world.
Jill Kennedy – OnMedea
Good piece, Jill. I’m not really sure I totally agree with the pointlessness of Facebook but I can imagine they have too much power in the industry. I really want to see the economics once they go public. How do they make money?
How do they make money you ask?
The answer to that question is the number 1 reason why you should stay away from Facebook.
You see, in Facebookland, the end user is NOT the customer. You are, in fact, the PRODUCT. More specifically, your likes and dislikes are the product. Facebook takes it’s product and sells it to it’s real customers; advertisers.
You and your life are packaged and marketed just like any other product. FB goes to these advertisers and says they can put the companies’ ads in front of people that they already know are pre-disposed to spend money on whatever the advertisers are selling.
Those ads are VERY expensive, and FB makes a lot of money.
Just not from me. I have no desire to be a product and I went to High School with a bunch of jerks who I have no desire to see or communicate with ever again.
Seriously – enough with this goddamned facebook. I’ve had it. It adds nothing to my life. It adds nothing to your life. Email pictures if you can so goddamned much. It’s all so stupid. A Trillion dollars? Give me a fucking break!
I have no problem with Facebook. I just don’t let it rule my life. I check once or twice a day to see what people are posting and then I do other things.
They aren’t going to let you get away with that for much longer. They’ll find a way to get you there more often and then won’t let you go.
You’ve got to be kidding, right? Facebook is an entertaining diversion…that’s all. For crying out loud, “they’ll find a way to get you there more often and then won’t let you go”? Are you serious? I”m pretty sure that Facebook has not made me drink any Kool-Aid. But, I’m LMAO at your ignorant comments.
Entertaining diversion? Facebook dominated the news cycle today with the announcement of their redesign. A redesign that everyone hates. The longer people stay on Facebook every day, the dumber they get. I don’t have all the data on that – but it seems to be true. Facebook’s goal is to have you on it all the time and control everything you do while you’re on it. This is not a friendly chat, picture posting, status update kind of company. Btw, you can buy kool aid online with 15 Facebook credits.
This is the first time I’ve seen this blog and I’m kind of amazed that anyone actually reads it. You’re an Ann Coulter kind of dumb. Look at The Huffington Post today…..the top story was certainly not about Facebook. But do you even know what the top story was? Tomorrow, however, could be a very big news day for FB; so stay tuned. You can fill the followers of this little blog with more lunatic ramblings. LMAO.
I suppose I am out here on my own – the only one in the world with bad things to say about Facebook. Dude, I mean, Barbie, look at any story about the redesign and read the comments of FB users. I’d say at least 50% were negative not only about the redesign but about Facebook in general. According to my dumb blonde math that’s, uh, 375 million people don’t really like Facebook and are done with it. Sure, they’ll keep their accounts and occasionally go back but FB is on the road to becoming worthless.
And since you appear to be an employee of Facebook – you may appreciate this post.
http://mankabros.com/blogs/onmedea/2010/07/01/facebook-is-worthless/
Dumb blonde math is right! Where on earth do you get that 50 % of the people who post on a “story” about FB would equal 375 million?! Hahahaha That’s saying that 750 million people commented!! Wow….that’s a STORY! And, employee of FB?! Hysterical. I’m actually a nurse. Thank you for a dose of very good medicine tonight….I haven’t laughed this hard in awhile. And, just for the record, I’m blonde so please don’t lump us in the same category.
May I refer to a post that you might find more credible than my dumb ass…
http://mashable.com/2011/09/21/prepare-for-the-new-facebook/
Here’s a nice quote you might find interesting…
“Facebook’s goal is to become the social layer that supports, powers and connects every single piece of the web, no matter who or what it is or where it lives.”
too late – I dump you both in the dumb blonde category. Facebook is here to stay, Jill, like it or lump it. And Barbie Dahl, if you’re laughing your ass off at this entire exchange – you don’t know what is funny and may be a little crazy.
What’s funny is Jill’s responses; the article itself is a bit presumptious but Jill’s hysteria is what’s hysterical! Perhaps Facebook Rulez should re-read what I posted. I didn’t even bother to read anyone else’s comments. And it’s a good thing you’re anonymous on here because I’m pretty sure you don’t want to be insinuating that nurses are dumb. I hope you don’t make stupid comments like that when you are in our care. And you can call me crazy if you want….that doesn’t offend me at all. I’m not the one who thinks FB is going to TAKE OVER THE WORLD. Good grief….get a grip.
Not only do I not think Nurses are dumb – I think the ones who can draw blood from me without me passing out are geniuses. That’s a true talent and deserves nothing but praise. Even though I don’t know what I’m talking about . And I do believe Facebook WANTS to take over the world. They won’t – because my little blog is going to stop them. You wait and see. Enjoy the new Facebook Timeline. Hopefully you don’t have too many pictures of crazy drunken nights up there – it may come back to haunt you if you ever needed to get another job.
Don’r let the puny bunch of bots from FB trolls you, you got your opinion going, just let them ravel all they want, bcoz really… WHO THE HECK DON’T SEE SOMETHING WRONG ABOUT A SITE KEEPING EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU AND SHARING IT TO THE WORLD?… entertainment my fcking ass.
Facebook sucks all the time
Absolutely. It will be stopped too. Not because of anything FB does but because people will move on to the next thing. We just have to hope that FB doesn’t acquire the next big thing before everyone moves to it.
It’s strangely quiet on the Facebook front. Isn’t it funny how no one really talks about them when they don’t put out the news themselves. The PR firm must have the week off.
I have to Agree with Jill Kennedy aka JK there Facebook is to much, my friends are on it like its Crack or something a fix that can’t be broken. no matter how much you try to pull them away from the computer they will just use there cellphones to stay on. my thing is i tryed facebook fr a couple of years and had enough of it i try to delete my account and its still there i get emails saying come back to facebook we miss you all you got to do is type in your email address you used and your password. and surely i did and all my stuff still there plus new feeds i didn’t know about into after i left like my account was still there. once again facebook should be shut down. there are other social media sites out there that offer better things then facebook im sure there out there some place. like a new one called splaffers its gaining slowly but making it on its own. who knows whats out there. thats all i got to say.
Funny how the top of your article has a Facebook “like” link.
Google started as a search engine and has exploded into offering a mullti-product line.
To say Facebook can’t do the same thing is naive.
[‘Funny how the top of your article has a Facebook “like” link.] – Hey, they’re not dead yet.
I believe they could steam roll everyone and become the only entrance onto the internet if left unchecked.
Folks are fickle. The minute a bigger and better social site comes along (Google+?), FB fans will abandon ship. But I still can’t imagine why anyone would so willfully donate all of their precious personal information to anyone. And FB has completely neutered the meaning of “friend”… Just how many of one’s FB “friends” would show up this weekend to help them move? 😉 People should live a ‘real’ life, and make real friends.
Caligula? Is this a joke?
“sources focus upon his cruelty, extravagance, and sexual perversity, presenting him as an insane tyrant” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula). Perhaps it’s a fitting name for a social network that preys on its users.
It’s hard, but given sufficient aggravation and motivation some will rise above their complacency to act.
Thanks for the graph ! .. f course i can assume tht your graph count neither cats or dogs as population or internet users. I have a couple of cockroaches that i signed up to facebook …for some reason they dont have many friends..
No, I think if you count the cockroaches with accounts (and many have tried to friend me), the user base would be well over 10 billion.
Hey, Jill. I followed your link after reading your comment on the USAToday article about the new features that Facebook is coming out with.
Not only is your picture hot, but you make some valid points. For that, I applaud you.
I’ll be honest though, I made a Google+ account about a couple weeks after the invitations were being sent out. I’m very fond of the unique features that Google has been applying and have created. Unfortunately, Facebook is mimicking everything that Google+ has been providing its users. That being said, I want to see Facebook fail. I believe that no matter what social network one chooses, drama and adolescent morons will always be there. But “Facebook must be stopped!” They have become a greedy corporation and everyone is feeding this monster.
Anyway. I could go on about how much Facebook annoys me, but then that means I’m actually thinking of them. They sort of remind me of the guy who sits behind me at work with the dragon breath who doesn’t realize that I don’t want to talk to him, but wants to keep making conversation.
Hey Andy – thanks so much. Great comment. I totally agree that they have become a greedy corporation that is completely out of control. I just heard an interview with Mark Zuckerberg and he said they have been so busy with the new changes they haven’t even had a chance to think about when they might want to do an IPO. That’s just an outright lie. Yes, all those top engineers recruited with the hope of a really nice payday haven’t even thought about when the IPO might be. People just need to stop going there and go to anything else (well, maybe not LinkedIn).
First of all Jill, it refreshes me to read this since you have now publicly stated my points of view I have had internally in my company.
Right now, I see the Facebook wave no different than the AoL or MySpace waves were 10-15 years ago. Simply put, more people are finding Facebook more of an annoyance than a benefit.
Though a small trend, one thing I notice is that of the 598 friends I have on Facebook, the same half dozen (yes, only six of them) post on a regular basis. I noticed this and decided to send a message to two dozen from my list in a test to see how long it too for them to get back to me. Of the 24, the earliest came one day later, most came in a week to two later, three came a month later, and two came three months later. When I asked a few what took so long, they responded that they don’t really use facebook much anymore.
I think you stated the value facebook has to the majority of its users, simply to connect with old friends. Beyond that, I see more people po’d with facebook than anything. Most, including myself, were very perturbed with the capturing of information for contact cell numbers from your cell phone. Simply put, facebook loses more and more trust each day. The geo data is just another nail in the coffin.
I personally believe we’ll see the momentum for another 2-3 years. Then facebook will face the same dilemma AoL and MySpace did.
Absolutely, Chris. I think one of the great business blunders of all time was to keep pushing off the IPO. I definitely see Facebook losing momentum. Talk all you want about the 800 million users. Most of them are complaining today and trying to figure out how to turn off all these new features. AOL and Myspace had this kind of dominance and couldn’t make it. Facebook is trying to dominate with size and resources and that’s no way to maintain customer loyalty – especially Americans. We call bullshit very quickly.
A lot of people wonder what Facebook’s business model is, and what it sells. My theory is that its you; whether its your personal information, your history. It sells you.
A big fear was that a top-down government authoritative government who would demand privacy from you; nower days people are willing to give up information for free.
Agreed, AD. Great point. And I can just see Zuckerberg as they’re making these changes. Someone might bring up: “Users wont’ like this”… Zuckerberg: “The users will adapt. I really don’t care what they say about it – in time, they will love it. I control them.” It may seem silly to say it – but this is actually kind of scary stuff.
I totally agree. It’s just insane. There is barely journalism around fb anymore, just hype. Seems to me the human raced lived for a pretty long time without it, and we’ll be OK again if it disappears.
I invested in a company called Zendit (http://zendit.com).
I use it every day to chat and share photos and video with close friends and colleagues. It’s everything facebook is not anymore:
– basic and easy
– simple privacy – one setting, public or private
– fast and effective, no friends, no status updates, no crap
Try it, it’s free.
Thanks Kevin for the tip. Alternatives are a great thing and I will try your service. Facebook cannot become the portal to entry for all things media. It’s just too much power.
This new stuff kills me. It’s just too much control. I agree Jill. I also agree they are trying control their users by attempting to offer so much stuff that no one will want to go anywhere else – and this strategy almost always fails. Americans have “don’t fence me in” built into their DNA and if they think Facebook is trying to track them or control them – it’s all over for Facebook. Just offer a good product that people enjoy and stay out of the way. Facebook has too many resources and too much time on their hands. Just stop.