Facebook seems to be getting larger and larger and with growth comes many changes. First it was the look of your profile, then it was made mandatory. Although I have seen several with the ‘old look’, which is interesting. Then it was the change of the Facebook Pages and the restrictions placed upon us. Then the addition of sponsored ads and more. So, is Facebook getting so large that it is losing its appeal?
Let’s dig a bit deeper, shall we?
Focused on Advertisers
It seems that with all the changes, that Facebook is now focused more on the advertisers and less on the users. The ‘improvements’ that have been made and continue to show up seem to be more oriented towards revenue generation and not merely user retention and engagement. Now, don’t misunderstand, Facebook is still one of the most popular social media networks but is it as ‘cool’ as it used to be?
Is Growth Really Good?
With growth, obviously comes crowds. Just a few years ago it was easy to place an ad or shop and stand out amongst the crowd, today, not so much. Today there are millions of Facebook pages from companies and brands which is increasing the competition as well as challenging to navigate. If you are looking to stand out amongst the crowd, be prepared to spend much more time then in the earlier days and more money as well.
It’s Become Challenging
When I use the word ‘challenging’ I mean it is not as easy to navigate as it was before. In the past it was easier because you simply had your status updates, photos, links and likes. Fast forward to the present and Facebook now has places, timelines, highlighted posts, third party integrations and the list goes on and on. I understand that Facebook is trying to be the one-stop for all of social networking but that may actually create more confusion than ease. When you try to become everything to everyone – you become noting to no one.
Hmmm…which then brings me back to my original question – Is Facebook losing its appeal or is it enticing more and more people?
When it comes to marketing your business or product it’s important to look for a network that is appealing to your target. Just because everyone is using Facebook doesn’t mean it is the best for your product. Make sense? I encourage you to look into the various other networks as well; such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest, and most importantly never stop sharing your information and building relationships. No matter how large a network becomes, building relationships will be essential to your success.
So my question to you is…
What do you think…is Facebook is losing it’s appeal?
About Kim
I think Facebook still matters to people. It's still the primary means for friends and relatives to get together online (at least where I am from – the Philippines). So I don't really think it's losing it's appeal. It's more like Google–the rules keep changing and marketers need to keep adapting and changing, too. Tough job. But what's the alternative?
I agree. I do think that many get frustrated with the constant changes but as you say, it’s too big of a marketplace to ignore. Disenfranchised isn’t the same as totally ignoring it right?
It may be loosing appeal to some people who started using it years ago but actually attracting new people and millions of pro-users.
Also all the new features may be confusing to new people but so many do like them actually and know how to get around even with tons of buttons and links screaming 'click here, click me' on every page.
I don’t think it’s going away for sure!
I don't think Facebook is losing its appeal. I do think, as you suggested, that marketers who want to do well there need to put more and more work into building relationships with their audience members. It is no longer enough for a company to merely have a page. Now, the administrators must build relationships with the people who like it.
Never really considerd that but truth is facebook is more adviertiser based so they are looking more towards profits, but I guess they have the numbers although I must say it pays in the long run to be more User friendly, the customer tends to stay around much longer. And yes I hated it when they asked us to move to the new look>
Yes, I agree, it is probably the most user friendly platform and only time will tell if people will migrate from it.
I've been asking myself the same question all year; Is Facebook dwindling? I think Facebook provides some core connections for most people which makes the social media site very difficult to toss aside. However, just like AOL in the early days, I believe Facebook will succumb to newer innovative apps over the next five to seven years. One thing for sure, online advertising is here to stay!
At this point in time, Facebook is not losing its appeal especially for businesses. I am following few businesses and they are all rockin the Facebook. You are right that time will tell if people will switch to a more user friendly social networking site.
Great post Kim! I think, in some ways, Facebook is losing it's appeal. The push to serve the advertisers and to make FB more about advertisements is turning a lot of people off. I think every business, and every consultant that works with or advises businesses, needs to look at and evaluate which platform is right for their business. The biggest doesn't equate to being the best solution for everyone. I find it interesting that you mentioned Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest, but not Google + :)
Not sure it’s going away by any means but many businesses, in particular, are getting upset about not being able to reach out to a fan base that they have worked hard to grow.
I don't feel society is going to let it go. Let's face it, there is nothing else. Not even close to what FB has to offer. However, with all that we do online daily, if someone came along and offered what we have working now but on a larger scale and tailored more to what society is looking for, well then that could be a game changer. I have been around for a while, and along the travels of the digital road, there have been many social avenues that grew and went away. Remember the days, Prodigy? ZNEt, FidoNet, AOL, MySpace and more, NONE of them have had the impace FB has with exception of AOL.
In the end, 2013 is a new year, my teachings is to tell people to play with all avenues of social media, but manage it well enough that your time is not lost and only do what can work for you or your business. Great post by the way!
Oh I think Google+ is going to give ‘em a run for their money. I don’t think they are going away by any means but I think marketers will drive much movement into Google+ in 2013.
I don't think its loosing its appeal, but Facebook is making it more tricky for marketers to continue to get their content to people. With so much advertising, people are much more apt to "hide" you from their feed. The battle for the attention of Facebook users will only continue to get harder the more that advertisers are allowed to engage people's attention of Facebook.
Without having much past expeirence with FB it is difficult to compare on a past and present basis as you have. I do know that for me FB is "awkward" it doesn't seem to flow and seems to have restrictions that hinder rather than help. I will continue to us it more as a necessity than as something I look forward to. I suspect Google+ will surpass FB in the near future as the #1 social site.
I think many bloggers are spending too much time on Facebook and as a result they are not on their blog as much. This builds Facebook's community, not the blog. I've also become frustrated with their decision to omit our page updates from showing in fans' newsfeeds based on their system instead of letting the fans decide how many of our updates they want to see. After all the time building a page, then they do this and want to make us pay to get it back in their feed is deceptive. I've backed off Facebook pages, allowing my Twitter to auto post there for me. I'd rather build up my blog, which I can control, than a Facebook page that I can't.
I hear ya, Lisa! Totally frustrating for sure but Facebook is still a powerhouse and a great relationship builder location.
Indeed, I have built relationships there, but not on the business side of things. It's been more of a friendship builder and community of support for personal things. I have more luck with Twitter when it comes to business. I think Facebook is more difficult to connect with large groups of people. When groups opened up to allow the owners of the groups to add people without their permission, it flooded the news feeds of my friends, making my group updates less likely to get noticed. I had to spend over an hour helping my husband get out of groups. He had been added to over a hundred groups by people he was friends with.
Then when Pages limited the updates from showing to fans' news feeds, it got even worse. I use FB still, but I no longer invest as much time into it as I did before. I've spoken to many bloggers who agree with me that since the opening of FB, their blogs have less comments than before and it's harder to connect with readers. Then again, it does work for some people. I think the trick is to utilize the networks that work best for each individual blog. Here's something I wrote about my concern about FB pages http://www.pixosphere.com/blog/?p=823