The king is dead – long live the king.
That odd sentence puzzled me in childhood until I finally realized it was talking about two different people (one six feet under and the other newly-installed). And like a near-dead royal, the obituaries are already written for Facebook. (Did you know every newspaper keeps a draft obituary of most famous people so it can be quickly updated and printed?)
This week “The New York Times Magazine” included a feature article about the death of Facebook.
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. Facebook, the online social grid, could not command loyalty forever. If you ask around, as I did, you’ll find quitters. One person shut down her account because she disliked how nosy it made her. Another thought the scene had turned desperate. A third feared stalkers. A fourth believed his privacy was compromised. A fifth disappeared without a word. (Source: VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN writing for The New York Times Magazine)
But – like Mark Twain’s famous quote – are the reports of death premature?
After all Facebook attracted 87.7 million unique visitors in the United States in July – and that’s just one country in one month.
True, the younger generation are fleeing. In all social media there’s a saying – “The kids leave when the parents arrive”. And now that 40 something’s are using Facebook to reconnect with the college class of 1985 it’s time for the kids to go. After all – 1985 is before they were born!
Facebook may be showing its age. The article in “The New York Times addresses a number of serious concerns, such as data ownership, privacy and marketing.
In bookstores now is the unauthorized story about the founding of Facebook. “The Accidental Billionaires” exposes the seamier side of stumbling into the world’s hottest social media site.
In time even Facebook will disappear. The Economist predicts an evolution away from sites with barriers. Why upload photos to Flickr then share them on Facebook before adding a video to YouTube? You should be able to manage all your on-line content in one place – and retain ownership. Maybe that’s what Facebook will morph into.
More likely a freshman in college somewhere is already developing this “must have” application. And while she may not be able to afford a Grande Frappuccino at Starbucks today, soon she’ll have riches beyond the market capitalization of Starbucks globally.
