One billion; that’s a big number! And it’s going to get even bigger. Millions are tiny now. Yes, it actually happened around September 14. And most of the new users are not signing up from the U.S. as Facebook wraps its zuckery paws around the world. Three years ago, 175 million users were a LOT. Who knew? And besides all that, there are about 600 million mobile users and that’s an area of growth for Facebook right now. Mr. Z was just on The Today Show (the source of these stats) and was a vague as a politician. He said “We build the best product we can.” Great! The best products for whom? The user? Or the big companies that pay him mega bucks to advertise? As the piece bounced back and forth from the actual interview to various clips, at one point Matt Lauer exclaimed “Is Mark Zuckerberg over his hoodie?” Needless to say, Mr. Z sported one of his twenty gray t-shirts and no sweats. He stated during the interview that he likes to keep things simple and only has one drawer in the dresser to call his own. He also went on to say that Steve Jobs was “so focused” and that “user experience was the only thing that mattered.” Oh, and then as the subject of Apple continued, he quietly added that Tim Cook sent him an iphone5.
All this excitement comes at the same time Facebook is announcing a "promote a post" feature for users (click here for Reuters). $7 will get you all the visibility you like if you’re in the U.S. Now wait a minute! Doesn’t this move away from what Facebook is all about? Do you recall all the times where users were afraid that Facebook wasn’t always going to be free? Well, this is it folks! Have you noticed lately that your personal posts aren’t always showing up in your friend’s newsfeeds? It comes down to this: Your friends who have some extra gelt and the willingness to pay to be heard will be the ones you’ll be hearing from most often now.
To my friends: Say goodbye to my sunset, moon, and flower pics because you’re not going to see them as often! Now, I have nothing against a company making money, however, we are now talking about the principles of social media. It was never an issue of paying to be social. Have we forgotten our roots, Mr. Zuckerberg?
On a brighter note, Facebook just released its first ad. According to the article in Ad Age, it’s been a year in the making and went through various stages long before the possibility of a billion users emerged on the horizon. Not going to say a word here; would love to hear back from all of you. The video is below, courtesy of YouTube (hello Google!).
Facebook, you just keep doing it to me. I feel like you’re trying to wring some $$s out of me and your tactic is to share the posts from my MODern Marketing 4 U page to less and less of my followers. Thank GOODNESS for Twitter. I receive more consulting inquiries from there than anywhere else. And thanks to Twitter, I have a healthy blog readership that’s grown by leaps and bounds over the last few months. Facebook, I have a lot of faith in you. One of my other pages, Groovy Reflections, now has well over 12,000 fans and incredibly high engagement. So I KNOW some people are seeing that page and that’s great! I have no intention of using your Pay to Promote feature. Why would I when up to just earlier this year ALL the fans for my pages DID got all the posts from those pages in their news feeds? I even honored you by blogging about this new feature when you introduced it; JUST to let people know about the good and the bad points about it. Facebook, it’s not my fault that your stock flopped. Thankfully, I chose not to buy. I KNOW you make money from advertising. And that’s fine; I accept that. But to squeeze “the little guy” (uh, that would be me) for some chump change is unreasonable. I've done my part for you by keeping 12,000+ people coming back to Facebook because they like Groovy Reflections! They may be staying on Facebook even longer because of the success of that page.
We are not Charmin though you think we are. Now, about that stock. It’s worth about half of the intro price now. Did you ever think about bestowing credibility by actually showing that you CARE about us users? An announcement about upcoming changes would definitely make people think that you consider us important? Besides, generating excitement about upcoming changes (provided they are GOOD changes) will also build positive brand imagery. Do you have a marketing department that thinks about this? So, Mr. Zuckerberg, you should be thanking ME. Why not give me $50 in credit for promotions as a little thank you. Your wealth won’t even be affected. Bert Kaempfert wrote a little ditty about 50 years ago that describes a good way to be; can we apply this to our thoughts about Facebook in the future? For more smiles, stop by and visit... at the website, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ ...Thanks!
Let’s face it. Mr. Zuckerberg is probably not your cup of tea and you don’t plan on having coffee with him anytime soon. We learned from “The Social Network” that he is ruthless and if you’re in his way, well, step aside. He does have some admirable characteristics though, including determination, focus, and energy.
Like him or not, he’s going to be a influencing our lives for a long time. And who knows? Maybe marriage will make him nice. After all, the new Mrs. certainly sees something there; do you think she calls him Marky? Oh wait! This is going to be a POSITIVE article. No name calling or negativity here. Now, what has Mr. Zuckerberg done for us, besides allow us to be a 900 million plus people that use his services for free?
Here’s a few:
Allowed small businesses to flourish by giving them exposure. Some small businesses wouldn't even be on the map if it weren’t for Facebook (including one of mine). It’s a free launching pad IF used correctly.
Given us an easy way to communicate. Do you still use email or do you tend to use private message or just simply share on your wall?
It’s opened up our world to new relationships. Exposure! And just think, you could be sitting with your laptop in your lap and wearing a bathrobe right now. Who’s gonna know? And that new friend you meet on Facebook today…you may be meeting tomorrow in person!
Given us the opportunity to mingle with celebrities while we get to know them. I was tickled when Howard Kaylan of The Turtles responded to a comment I made on a post of his. And he wasn't just saying “Groovy” either.
You can even own a piece of Zuckerberg! Purchasing stock is a choice.
Get reacquainted with folks you knew oh so many years ago. For me personally this has been a big like all the way.
Send greetings and virtual “gifts” without spending a penny or running to the store!
Made it possible to for us to get the latest news and/or current events faster than a speeding bullet. Not only that, but we can interact with people about our take on that information immediately. Go ahead and show distaste or delight!
Now that’s only eight. Bet you can think of at least ten more. And sure, much of the above applies to other social networks. Maybe they’re more significant, perhaps less significant, or only strong for you and a few others.
The point is that as much as we moan, groan, and complain about the Facebook all the time, it’s a part of our lives that we enjoy. After all, if you didn’t like it, would you still be using it?
The Turtles sang about being "Happy Together" ...we ARE, aren't we?
Ha ha! An opportunity to use an Initial Public Offering to rant!
Do you want to be part of the largest tech IPO in history? The buzz is all about a slice of Zuckerberg at $38 a share.
Is it a deal?
Think about it. Does Facebook ever get any GOOD publicity? Yes, I mentioned them in a positive light in a recent blog, because I read that they will defend your privacy. And guess what? A lawsuit was just filed by users of Facebook on this issue of….privacy! Okay, maybe they’re not so good at security issues then.
Speaking of the not-so-good publicity...
For starters, there’s this whole Timeline thing. Wasn’t counting, but I can easily say I’ve seen over 100 friends groaning about it. People don’t like change, but they’ll get used to, just like anything else.
On the business side of things, General Motors decided not to run Facebook ads anymore. That’s no big deal. Facebook ads work for some and not others. It’s not one size fits all.
But here’s the thing I find really annoying about Facebook. Control. Whose show is it anyway, Facebook? Why do YOU get to pick and choose which posts, both personal and business page ones, get to show up in somebody’s newsfeed?
As far as what you see in your newsfeed, you can grab that control back by using lists. Make lists that include those people and pages that you want to see. You can also select how many posts you want to see from an individual: Just hover over “friends” on their page and select all updates, most updates, or mostly important. You can also select what kind of posts you want to see from that person; if you’re not a gamer for example, then games-be-gone!
If you have a page, there’s nothing you can do about posts not showing and yes, that is frustrating. Worse yet, sometimes it happens in “batches” when three or four posts just aren’t seen. The good news is if you’ve done a good job of engaging your fans some of them will check in directly on your page. I’ve also received messages many times from people asking where the posts are with my Groovy Reflections page. Nice to know that people miss it when they don’t see it!
There are lots of other things we don’t like about Facebook too, yet they continue to grow. Can 900 million plus people be wrong? Yes, admit it, you've met some great people there!
And now you’re wondering; am I buying? The answer is no. I tend to look for up and coming companies that will increase my portfolio long term. To buy Facebook today would be more of a folly; if I were one that practiced buying an IPO and selling a few days later to make a quick buck, then sure there’s potential there. The question is: How quickly will the stock stabilize?
Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic! And if you are truly bored and need a little excitement now and then, find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Would love to chat with you and I won't wear a hoodie.
