Facebook

[Pigeon]

It would inevitably fade. But with the IPO, the pressure will be on to monetize it, which will drive people away faster, as the ads and privacy policy gets worse and worse.

 

[amg35]

Of course it is a fad, just like indoor plumbing and the automobile. Outhouses and the horse as our primary mode of transportation are right around the corner.

Hmmm...I think it will go the way of myspace.

A couple of years ago, if someone asked if they could find me on facebook and I said I'm not on it, that statement was met with shock and horror!

Just a couple of weeks ago at a wedding, my younger (mid-twenties) cousins asked why they couldn't find me, I said I'm not on it and immediately they all started saying things about how they don't use it anymore either, it's lame, etc, almost like they were embarrassed...they now use instagram, twitter.

Seriously, you can see it happening already.

I'm 38, 25 year old me would not have wanted to be a part of something my older/married with kids siblings were using!

 

[Tiger926]

I think it's a fad because many people are finicky, get bored easily and have no loyalty to products.

So, I think it will fade as people are getting bored of it, and not because something better has come along. I'm sure though that something will come along, and maybe Zuckerberg himself will invent another version of Facebook, as people get bored so easily.

Heck, people get bored of their spouses and their kids, so listening to Aunt Sally constanly blab about her cat and your neighbor discuss her affair with the pool boy, isn't so exciting for people anymore.

I have never had Facebook and never will, but as a highschool teacher, I can tell you that some of my students have already deleted their accounts because they are bored, they were too obsessed with it, or it was becoming detrimental to their lives, such as negative gossip or cyberbullying.

Tiger

 

[ChrisFL]

MySpace and Facebook are not comparable for several reasons.

MySpace crashed and burned very quickly once the spammers got really involved and people had waaaay too much control over their page layouts, so tons of crap programming, flashy banners and music everywhere turned people off to it.

Facebook has avoided that for the most part. Timeline isn't really that bad, it could be tweaked a bit, but the big thing is that sooo many websites are linked to the FB "Like" option, and facebook integration is something that MySpace didn't have at all.

Warner Bros. is even showing movies on Facebook now.

Its too early for me to predict what will happen. Yes there are definitely some privacy concerns, but they're still a massive global phenomenon.

I am keeping my thoughts about the IPO separate. Popularity doesn't necessarily = Profit...look at Napster for that.

Many of these company IPO's are making millions to billions of dollars without the profit to show for it, and that's scary.

 

[goofyernmost]

I think it's a fad because many people are finicky, get bored easily and have no loyalty to products.

Heck, people get bored of their spouses and their kids, so listening to Aunt Sally constanly blab about her cat and your neighbor discuss her affair with the pool boy, isn't so exciting for people anymore.
Tiger

I was bored with Aunt Sally's cat before I finished that sentence, however, I would like to know a little more about the pool boy thing. Really!

 

[Tiger926]

I was bored with Aunt Sally's cat before I finished that sentence, however, I would like to know a little more about the pool boy thing. Really!

I have heard some very interesting stories from relatives and from my students about things posted on Facebook.

Tiger

 

[Alsobrook]

It's rather idiotic if you ask me. Self grandizing ******** that lemmings use.

 

[goofyernmost]

It's rather idiotic if you ask me. Self grandizing ******** that lemmings use.

Oh, it's not all that bad. If you keep your circle of friends small enough there isn't any self "grandizing" and only a minor amount of "I just had oatmeal for breakfast" type of stuff. I wonder if they really think anyone cares?

It is a heavily used tool to tell everyone that will listen just how cute and clever their young children are, but other than that it's not awful bad. Being the age that I am, I am actually completely amused by the way some of that stuff is worded. It's as if no one ever had a child before them, and none of the previous ones that happened to sneak in there were ever as funny, smart and mature as their little sweeties are.

My biggest pet peeve is the one where a friend will post a strong political, religious or personal request for prayer and then insists that if you care about them you will share this on your Wall. There's always the disclaimer..."I think I know who will do this but if you don't..I understand." Even if I were the most dedicated to the cause that existed, it just upsets me so much that I will not respond at all.

I have, on occasion, messaged them and said...Tell you what, if you stop trying to connect my friendship with your personal causes you might get further with me. Don't under any circumstances try to force me to prove that I consider you a friend only if I support every thing you say. It will get you nowhere. I assume you understand that! If not drop me off your Friend list. Thanks!

 

[BillBrasky]

A lot of my friends are moving onto twitter and instagram and deleting or not going on their facebooks as much as before. It's definitely not as popular as before (with college kids at least).

I think Facebook would be more scared of Instagram if they didn't already buy Instagram last month. I was one of the first couple thousand facebook users... back when it was thefacebook.com and it was at like 5 schools. It's not going anywhere. It's evolved as time has gone by and eventually it sees itself as web portal type utility.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I voted fad. I hear more and more people who think it does (or rather is used for) more harm than good.

 

[MoonFaerie]

Social networking is here to stay. That may or may not continue to be in the form of facebook.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

Timeline is absolutely wonderful and when I end up on one of the few pages left that haven't changed it just looks so old and outdated.

I agree. I really don't get the hate with it. I willingly switched over to it early. Everything is so streamlined. It is easier to find stuff on people's pages. To me, it makes it easier to use.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Social Networking is here to stay but I doubt Facebook will stay forever. There are enough people who have been getting frustrated with the changes made to Facebook lately that something else will replace it IMO

 

[Alsobrook]

Oh, it's not all that bad. If you keep your circle of friends small enough there isn't any self "grandizing" and only a minor amount of "I just had oatmeal for breakfast" type of stuff. I wonder if they really think anyone cares?

It is a heavily used tool to tell everyone that will listen just how cute and clever their young children are, but other than that it's not awful bad. Being the age that I am, I am actually completely amused by the way some of that stuff is worded. It's as if no one ever had a child before them, and none of the previous ones that happened to sneak in there were ever as funny, smart and mature as their little sweeties are.

My biggest pet peeve is the one where a friend will post a strong political, religious or personal request for prayer and then insists that if you care about them you will share this on your Wall. There's always the disclaimer..."I think I know who will do this but if you don't..I understand." Even if I were the most dedicated to the cause that existed, it just upsets me so much that I will not respond at all.

I have, on occasion, messaged them and said...Tell you what, if you stop trying to connect my friendship with your personal causes you might get further with me. Don't under any circumstances try to force me to prove that I consider you a friend only if I support every thing you say. It will get you nowhere. I assume you understand that! If not drop me off your Friend list. Thanks!

The only thing I think Facebook is good for is evidence. People are generally stupid.....they post crap on there that comes back to bite them. It's not a major weapon in workers' compensation and personal injury cases. If you track your life on Facebook, you're a moron. And I don't care what your privacy settings are.... I can subpoena the entire record from the moment you signed up until now and capture every post, deleted post, tag, untag, and just about every comment made by any of your friends about you.

Morons.

 

[ChrisFL]

The only thing I think Facebook is good for is evidence. People are generally stupid.....they post crap on there that comes back to bite them. It's not a major weapon in workers' compensation and personal injury cases. If you track your life on Facebook, you're a moron. And I don't care what your privacy settings are.... I can subpoena the entire record from the moment you signed up until now and capture every post, deleted post, tag, untag, and just about every comment made by any of your friends about you.

Morons.

Good for you, but you're stereotyping a vast number of the population.

Just because you can subpoena things doesn't mean everyone posts everything about their lives on it.

 

[wehavesix]

I have a personal account and a page for my pre-k class where I post info and updates for parents. It's been pretty popular with parents and grandparents who like to see and hear about things we are doing at school. Having a class page that parents like rather than "friending" one another, allows them access to the class page but doesn't allow me access to their personal info.

I think that many companies have started creating fan pages and found them to be more effective than the ads. I think the ads will essentially become ads inviting you to "like" their page which will then run in your feed. I predict Facebook will find a way to start charging corporations a subscription fee for their pages.

I also like Facebook group pages. My extended family on my mother's side has one. You can only be added by someone. We kept it pretty easy. Anyone currently a member of the group can add people. This family group page is used to keep us all in the loop for family gatherings, illnesses, celebrations, etc. in our large, widespread, extended family. A teacher might create a group where she controls who is added. This would be a place for her to post assignments, video clips, links to helpful websites, etc. There are lots more uses that I haven't yet explored.

I think that Facebook will continue to do well as long as they keep adding features that enhance and expand the use of the network. They need to do a better job of educating their target audiences on how to use the features and services in their business and personal lives though. I know there are some other social network services that are popular too. My teens use some of them. But if Facebook can keep themselves simple enough for everyone and in mainstream use, I think they will last.

 

[Alsobrook]

Good for you, but you're stereotyping a vast number of the population.

Just because you can subpoena things doesn't mean everyone posts everything about their lives on it.

Of course I'm stereotyping. When the shoe fits....


Your second sentence might as well have been, "Just because you can lift a watermelon doesn't mean that geese won't peck you if you get too close." One has nothing to do with the other. I know that everyone doesn't post everything about their lives. But many, many, many, many people do. And it seems that just about every single person I pull records on has stupidly made their lives very public in seemingly innocent ways. Nothing good comes from doing that. Nothing. And I don't see the virtues of Facebook. I think it's stupid and a huge waste of time. But it is, at the moment, the default "let' find everybody we've ever known" tool at the moment.

Won't be long before it's regulated, litigated over, and then dropped like a bad habit.

 

[Kathi OD]

I agree. I really don't get the hate with it. I willingly switched over to it early. Everything is so streamlined. It is easier to find stuff on people's pages. To me, it makes it easier to use.

I'll respectfully disagree. I feel that the timeline made it much more difficult to find things. That makes it harder for me to use.

 

[Kathi OD]

The only thing I think Facebook is good for is evidence. People are generally stupid.....they post crap on there that comes back to bite them. It's not a major weapon in workers' compensation and personal injury cases. If you track your life on Facebook, you're a moron. And I don't care what your privacy settings are.... I can subpoena the entire record from the moment you signed up until now and capture every post, deleted post, tag, untag, and just about every comment made by any of your friends about you.

Morons.

You have a very narrow-minded point of view. FB can be good for many things, evidence gathering included.

As far as subpoening anything, there has to be a reason for the subpoena. You make it sound like you can just decide willy-nilly to subpoena another person's FB page.

As for those who decide to use FB being morons, of course there are many, just as there are quite a few teachers, doctors, truck drivers, lawyers, & DIS members (you get the idea...doesn't matter how you can be grouped or labeled) who are morons. Belonging to the group doesn't make someone a moron, it's how they conduct themselves as member of that group that determines whether or not they are truly moronic.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I think it will be around for awhile but unless they fix their technological problems with mobility, they will be toast.

My youngest dd is on Tumbler, instead of FB.

I am on it but don't really use it much.