A couple of very different stories about Facebook hit the news cycle at about the same time last week, and they both speak to the site’s place in our lives — but in very different ways.
The first story is a pretty straightforward piece of evidence. Facebook has doubled in size in just the last year, and has now surpassed 500 million users, amassing 100 million new users just since February. Mark Zuckerberg, the face behind Facebook, has promised that they will reach 1 billion, and at this rate that seems certain.
But here’s the other curious piece of news. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, conducted by the University of Michigan’s business school, a LOT of those 500 million people aren’t very satisfied. The site placed in the bottom five percent of private sector companies for customer satisfaction.
Put those two stories together for a minute, and let them roll around in your head. What’s that tell you? That Facebook better get its act together or they’ll tumble? Doubtful.
What it says to me is that Facebook has reached some pretty rare heights. They have built a product that is so ubiquitous that they don’t have to care if people are satisfied with it. Sure, they will no doubt continue to make tweaks to “refine” the Facebook experience. But in the end, it’s like we used to say about Ma Bell before the breakup.
They’re the phone company. They don’t care. They don’t have to.
Other service providers have this same status. Take cable television, for example. My guess is that most of you reading this post pay a pretty penny every month for access to hours and hours of programming you don’t watch and wouldn’t be interested in anyway. Bad service? Oh, well. Spotty signal? Bummer. We kicked the cable habit (as well as the TV habit pretty much) about eight years ago and now the thought of actually paying $30, $50, or even $70 dollars a month (how high do YOU go?) to watch TV seems like absolute folly. Yet for most, it’s just not something they would ever consider doing without. Increasingly, it’s the same with web access. We simply feel like we have to have it, and we’ll pony up whatever we need to keep it.
For my part, I’m not sure whether I need Facebook or not. Certainly this blog would have far fewer readers without it. And I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of catching up with some old friends at a high school reunion a few weeks back if I wasn’t a Facebook user. So there are some definite advantages for me. But increasingly, there are times when I log on and find myself wondering exactly what I’m looking for. Or whether or not it’s the best way for me to be spending my time at that moment.
In the end, I tend to judge technology’s worth to me by its utility, not how engaging or amusing it is. Sometimes, as in the case of my iPod Touch, I am surprised to discover just how quickly a particular technology proves valuable to me, often in ways I might not have expected. But other times — and this is where I am with Facebook — the scales begin to imperceptibly tilt in the opposite direction.
I’m not sure I’ll ever pull the plug on Facebook as I did with cable TV, but I’m not sure I could rule out such a possibility either. In the meantime, you can find me there at www.facebook.com/oneluckyman. Look me up, and tell me why I should remain among the 499,999,999 (and growing) people who “like” it.
Also, I lost the link now, but I was reading this morning that while Facebook is growing among kids and older adults, the 18-to-35-year-old demographic is leaving in large numbers and actually showed negative growth recently.
Is Facebook the new MySpace?
Here’s one piece documenting that demographic trend. I wouldn’t be too surprised. They are already on the lookout for the next thing. Thanks for reading and commenting, Joshua. How’s the metro treating you? 🙂
I don’t know about mass exoduses and such, but I just finished reading “The Accidental Billionaires” (http://amzn.to/bKbJ5V). Interesting look at the founding of Facebook. I’m sure some is conjecture, but from the other pieces I’ve read it seemed to put things together in an interesting way.
Try to imagine the scope of this business. Six or seven years ago they were sitting in a dorm room, trying to connect co-eds on a college campus. Today, it’s a multi-billion dollar online business the likes of which we’ve never seen. I can’t imagine sitting in the pilot seat of that ride.
Jeremy — I can’t imagine, though I suspect it’s a bit like sitting atop a Saturn booster rocket. Eventually they’ll reach orbit and maybe breathe. I can’t think of any other business that have grown at this rate, can you? It’s like the ultimate test of scalability. Not sure if they’ll ever jump the shark, but I suspect they may become a bit less relevant at some point. Thanks for reading and saying your piece.
The relevance thing is a possibility, but it’s been a social shift to get to where they are. Such a massive shift in a user’s mentality would require another massive swing in the opposite direction – I find it hard to imagine that happening, at least in such a short, concentrated amount of time. I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit over the last few days … what other service/product can you think of that so many people (~ 500 million and growing) use on an almost daily basis, and that is such a huge part of our culture?
Autos. That’s all I’ve got. Fast food and TV, perhaps, but I think it’s easier to reduce our dependence on junk food, or time spent in front of a TV, than it is our willingness to give up the open road or to focus on alternative transportation sources.
Certainly didn’t intend for my commenting to become a sociological study – I just think it’s fascinating to watch, in real-time, such a massive growth schedule!
Have you seen the trailer for the Facebook movie? I believe it basically tells the story you mentioned, Jeremy.
I haven’t, JD, but I intend to. I also want to read more of Ben Mezrich’s stuff.
Okay, so now “The Accidental Billionaires” is on my reading list. I’m hoping it’s a how-to manual. 🙂