Is Facebook Past Its Prime? - Page1 - MSN Tech & Gadgets - Productshttp://tech.msn.com/products/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=20704423[7/20/2009 4:13:48 PM]
Is Facebook Past Its Prime?
By Hillary Rhodes, for PC World
1
Nobody left to 'friend'? Too many friends anyway? Why Facebook when youcan Twitter? In the here-today-gone-tomorrow world of social media, thesecommon complaints may mark the beginning of the end of Facebook'senormous popularity.
Is Facebook on its last legs? Is it going topulla MySpaceon us? Will Facebook be theInternet's hip site du jour one day, thensuddenly lose the love and affection of most of its followers the next? We hope not. Butvarious irritations associated with the sitecould contribute to its eventual demise.In the first quarter of this year, the "bounce rate" -- the percentage of visits toFacebook.com that consist of a single page view and then a quick exit -- hasgrown by 19 percent, according to Internet traffic research firm Alexa. Though thatstatistic hardly qualifies as conclusive proof of Facebook's imminent demise, it doesraise the possibility that a large number of Facebookers are surfing over to thesite, finding little there of interest, and promptly leaving.Here are some reasons Facebook might be losing its grip on people's onlinenetworking lives.
1. Facebook veterans are defecting to Twitter
People who delight in constant updates are thelifeblood of Facebook -- but many of them areflocking to Twitter. When it comes to intensescrutiny of everyday trivialities, Twitterthoroughly out-Facebooks Facebook, wheretwo or three status updates a day is themaximum before you start looking like a loser. And even though you can update Facebook from your phone, Twitter feels moremobile. It gives the impression that you're out and about, simultaneously doingsomething important and tweeting about it, whereas updating your Facebook pageimplies that you're sitting by yourself at a computer with nothing better to do.
2. People who actually have lives don't use Facebook
If you're starring in a major motion picture or negotiating a trade agreement with Austria or training for next month's triathlon or competing for a spot on the spaceshuttle, chances are you're not spending much time on Facebook. And if you aredoing any of these things and happen to have a Facebook page, you probablyaren't maintaining it very diligently.There's a growing sense among Facebook users that the amount of time a personspends on Facebook may be inversely proportional to how much is going on in theperson's (offline) life. Perhaps unfairly, you may get the impression that only boredand boring people have time to tell their friends that they love the new pita bread
Leave a Comment