Facebook can be called an internet phenomenon. Its rapid growth since it was introduced as a service made exclusively for Harvard students in 2004 is a spectacular example of a successful social media project. While its closest competitor, MySpace, is stagnating and struggling to sustain its user base, Facebook continues to attract new users. In this article, we’ll try to look to the reasons behind the tremendous success of Facebook.
Brief history:
Facebook was founded in February 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg and his roommates – Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. It received its first large investments 2005, while Facebook was still not available for the whole public. Facebook was opened to anyone aged 13 and above only in late 2006. It is currently valued somewhere between $1.3 and $10 billion and is the leading social network in the world with more than 200 million registered users.
Reasons for success:
The success of Facebook arguably comes from its appeal to the older demographic. The fact that there are very little customizations one can do with their Facebook page/profile may actually appear more attractive than the tuned-up user pages of MySpace, especially for older people who continue registering at Facebook at rapid rates. The company continues to receive a lot of free advertising both for its sudden popularity and the innovative features it adds to attract new users.
According to Google Trends, Facebook is much more popular than MySpace in every European country. The reason for this is probably the availability of Facebook in almost every language in Europe. Conquering the user base in the U.S. still remains a close battle, however, if MySpace don’t act soon, they’ll eventually lose the battle of the most popular social network in the U.S .
What needs to be done:
Facebook has a lot of areas to expand in, starting from the already-growing 35-54 year old segment, to the teen demographic which might migrate from MySpace. It also has a lot of potential in advertising alcohol, as the 21+ age group accounts for more than two thirds of overall Facebook population. The expansion of Facebook is international, for example, in Denmark, two thirds of the population is classified as active Facebook users.
While the company is busy gathering new users, there is a bigger problem Facebook has to face – how to monetize the traffic they receive? The idea of Facebook virtual gifts worth $1 didn’t work out, and although the company is earning quite a deal from advertising via Microsoft, there is a lot of work to do to make advertising more efficient. Perhaps the targeting of ads is missing something big, or maybe they just don’t want to push advertising in too early, as it could drive away potential users. We’ll certainly see a new strategy of monetization on Facebook in 2009, as it is nearing the physical limit of its users in most of Europe, Australia and other countries. Time will tell whether or not the popularity of Facebook will make it a great business power like Google, at least in social networking terms.
source : http://www.socialnetworkingjournal.com/the-reign-of-facebook-will-it-ever-end/
Brief history:
Facebook was founded in February 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg and his roommates – Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. It received its first large investments 2005, while Facebook was still not available for the whole public. Facebook was opened to anyone aged 13 and above only in late 2006. It is currently valued somewhere between $1.3 and $10 billion and is the leading social network in the world with more than 200 million registered users.
Reasons for success:
The success of Facebook arguably comes from its appeal to the older demographic. The fact that there are very little customizations one can do with their Facebook page/profile may actually appear more attractive than the tuned-up user pages of MySpace, especially for older people who continue registering at Facebook at rapid rates. The company continues to receive a lot of free advertising both for its sudden popularity and the innovative features it adds to attract new users.
According to Google Trends, Facebook is much more popular than MySpace in every European country. The reason for this is probably the availability of Facebook in almost every language in Europe. Conquering the user base in the U.S. still remains a close battle, however, if MySpace don’t act soon, they’ll eventually lose the battle of the most popular social network in the U.S .
What needs to be done:
Facebook has a lot of areas to expand in, starting from the already-growing 35-54 year old segment, to the teen demographic which might migrate from MySpace. It also has a lot of potential in advertising alcohol, as the 21+ age group accounts for more than two thirds of overall Facebook population. The expansion of Facebook is international, for example, in Denmark, two thirds of the population is classified as active Facebook users.
While the company is busy gathering new users, there is a bigger problem Facebook has to face – how to monetize the traffic they receive? The idea of Facebook virtual gifts worth $1 didn’t work out, and although the company is earning quite a deal from advertising via Microsoft, there is a lot of work to do to make advertising more efficient. Perhaps the targeting of ads is missing something big, or maybe they just don’t want to push advertising in too early, as it could drive away potential users. We’ll certainly see a new strategy of monetization on Facebook in 2009, as it is nearing the physical limit of its users in most of Europe, Australia and other countries. Time will tell whether or not the popularity of Facebook will make it a great business power like Google, at least in social networking terms.
source : http://www.socialnetworkingjournal.com/the-reign-of-facebook-will-it-ever-end/