I've been seeing some articles and commentaries talking about how Facebook will decline or is already starting to. Many of these articles are addressing some of the weaknesses in Facebook (such as mobile advertising and privacy issues) that they feel will hurt their future. But I want to talk about something I see as a much bigger threat...  Facebook's USERS. That's right, your Facebook friends are going to drive it into the ground. Facebook thus far has worked hard to protect the users from too many ads or ads that are too intrusive, so as to maximize the user experience. Bu the ads aren't the problem. Here's what is. 1. Look at my score! Earlier today my News Feed got flooded with notifications from a friend who was playing Bejeweled Blitz, a game I actually play myself and greatly enjoy. What I do not enjoy, however, is seeing 12 notifications, one right after another, about the various scores/medals my friend has achieved. Yes, I can block the notifications, but many of Facebook's users don't know how to do this, and just get miffed instead. 2. Speaking of games, stop sending me game invites! And while we're on the subject, I've seen a number of my Facebook friends complaining about the number of invitations they receive to play various games. This is a two-fold problem. One, those playing the games are too lazy to select specific friends, and just invite them all, ticking off a lot of them. And as with the point above, many users don't know how to block these invitations, or don't want to deal with the hassle every time someone starts playing a new game. 3. Are you inspired yet? This one really irks me. I have several friends who post all these sappy inspirational quotes bedecked out on beautiful photos, and they do so ad nauseum. STOP IT ALREADY! I've been seeing the same 20 quotes for years, first in email chain letters and now on social media. And speaking of chain letters, I've noticed those have now modernized to being social media posts as well. "Click like on this photo in 19 nanoseconds and something totally amazing will happen!" Or another favorite, "Facebook (or some other entity) will donate a trillion dollars to this puppy's better-dog-food fund if we can get 6 people to like this!" It's AMAZING to me how gullible some people are. The point is, these posts are irritating many users, and I think this will continue to happen and result in driving people away. For the most part, people haven't taken to Google+ yet, and I don't know that they will. But if a better alternative to Facebook comes along, I think users will suddenly migrate en masse, much as they did from MySpace. And it won't be Facebook's fault. It'll be because of your friends. Am I wrong? Am I and some of my friends the only ones who gets irritated with this stuff? |
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CategoriesEmpire AvenueGoogle+ jobs marketing nonprofit marketing nonprofit marketing & social media satire social media
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