We're all a bunch of fickle social media butterflys
Checked Facebook today, something I'm doing less and less (usually only when I get a friend invite), and saw this video...
There is truth to it. We social media types flit around like butterflies in a flower garden searching for nectar. We stick our proboscis down into the app du jour, take a nice, long drink, then wing our way over to the next.
It appears Facebook is the latest to litter the trail. We're currently enraptured with Twitter...or is it ? I forget. What's the app we're all excited about today?
Facebook developers are gravitating to other social networks, including MySpace, and are experiencing equally abysmal results in terms of usage. Reports are that the Pareto Principle holds true there. 20 percent of the apps get 98 percent of the traffic. (I'm looking for documentation. Saw it in one of the many email newsletters I get daily, but am loathe to find it when I need it.)
What does that portend for guys like Rodney Rumford, a Facebook maven? His FaceReviews site is all about FB applications and related news.
How about Web Community Forum, a conference started by Steve Broback of Blog Business Summit fame, which focuses on the "best practices for commercial and political ventures who want to use Facebook as a community building tool." Will they do a repeat of last year's conference? If so, will it have a broader agenda than Facebook itself?
Also, what does it portend for marketing in general? Zuckerberg says Beacon is down, but not out and that social ads will evolve over time.
Regarding Facebook usage, I have to reflect on my college-aged son's involvement. It is through Facebook that he and all his friends build their social graph. Regardless of our passing fancy with it, to them Facebook is and will continue to be the place where they communicate and build community.
I'm sure my list of "fallen by the wayside" social networks would look very similar to yours. Each of us has to find what works and best fits our digital lifestyle. Perhaps, long-term, Facebook will have a place, perhaps not. Right now, is where I spend most of my time, though I'm sure that, too, will change. In fact, it already is to some degree as I'm more active in the Society for Word of Mouth socnet started by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.
What about you? Are you bored with Facebook? How has your social network involvement changed over the years? What do you think the future holds?
Great points, Paul! I am already spending less time on Facebook now that I am using Twitter.
We hope that SWOM will become a valuable resource for folks so that they do keep coming back. Appreciate your participation in it so far!
Posted by: Jackie Huba | March 19, 2008 at 02:01 PM
Hi Paul,
Just goes to show how transient things are online - even for properties that appear well established. I wrote a related post about this behavior a while back which I called "Social Media Hummingbirds" on my blog at http://www.mediaphilosopher.com
Same kind of idea. The hummingbird doesn't stay in one place very long.
Posted by: Marcel LeBrun | March 19, 2008 at 02:50 PM
Too much logging on to Facebook when you get an email. I like twitter the conversations are easy and with twitbin you can stay logged on and jump in anytime. (or should I say flit in?)
Posted by: Missy Caulk | March 19, 2008 at 07:36 PM
As a point of clarification, I would like to point out that Web Community Forum is not a Facebook conference. It's an online community building conference. The first installation of that event just happened to be about Facebook.
That said, I think you'll see that FB has a lot more legs than you give it credit for. The newest feature they launched today is evidence of that.
Posted by: Teresa Valdez Klein | March 19, 2008 at 07:45 PM