I was in my twenties, newly married, and played guitar for worship. So the associate pastor who had a Thursday night Bible Study for Young Singles, at his house invited me to be one of the leaders. It was an incredible time. We had some evenings where a hundred people gathered in this normal sized suburban house.
But as the months rolled on, a schism appeared. There were two main camps-- the 18 to 22 year olds, and a new influx of the recently divorced and mid thirties type singles. It had started with the younger group and they felt invaded by these old guys. So they started leaving. In droves. From once what was 100 people, it got down to a handful of divorced older singles. Then it was finally canceled. And the time period wasn't that long from 100 to canceled.
So naturally, you might think I'm taking this towards the Corinthian conversation about body schisms and such-- but no, let's talk technology. (Love a good non sequitar).
The hot thing in business right now is "social network marketing." I visited a smart business that's jumping into this arena with both feet. They're building and hiring. They're signing clients left and right. They have cubicles of people whose job it will be to surf facebook, myspace and all those to push the clients product, company or services. See where I'm going yet? No?
The young people are hanging out at the house. The older people are starting to come. The older people are the Business aspect of social networking. It will be good for a short period of time here, before facebook gets inundated with business stuff-- or even worse-- it loses it's "cool" factor with this generation. Look at MySpace.
Facebook is strong right now. But June saw the largest decrease in members they've ever had. Rightly so, Business sees these social networks as a gold mine for selling their wares. And when the people leave facebook, they'll go to the next big thing, and business will be hot on their trails.
Is this the end of facebook? Of course not. But watch as the young people stop showing up because the older divorced types are coming.
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ReplyDeletethings always change, looking at how the internet evolved I don't think anyone predicted this at at beginning. And I think we will be surprised in 10 yrs time.
So one thing is certain - Facebook won't last forever, the question is - what is next.
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Thanks Phillip. Looks good. I registered.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine who has used FB since it was exclusively for college kids recently expressed frustration about all the young kids and old folks creeping in to FB. It's beginning.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure FB will fall as hard as myspace, simply because FB has consistently shown an ability to adapt to its users. Hence, the fairly regular layout changes. Though they usually prompt the creation of 10,000 "Put Facebook Back to the Way it Was!" groups, that all quiets down once people get used to the new layout (and it usually says something about the personality of the complainers ... I am the type of person who loves change, so FB changes never bother me). The changes, however, demonstrate FB's willingness to pay attention to how it is being used and adapt accordingly.
However, you are right that once the "old guys" (i.e. the marketers) get involved, everything could change. FB will have to be careful not to betray the trust of its users.
Side note: I have no problem with advertising and companies having a presence on Facebook. They have to pay the bills.