The fall of Facebook
Nothing has connected us together as much
as Facebook has.
Prior to Facebook, we had very minimal social networking options. MySpace for a short period was reigning supreme by its millions of users that enjoyed the customizable aspect of it and its dedication to artist profiles. It fell as fast as it rose when the large user base (mostly high school and late elementary school students) migrated to Facebook and became immediately hooked on its basic, ad-free design that slowly added in the features we've all become accustomed to: “checking in” to businesses, following celebrities' status updates, connecting other social media apps and the all-encompassing Facebook Chat that inevitably defeated MSN instant messenger.
Facebook has been the general template and inspiration for many other social networking sites. Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and even a blatant Facebook clone based in Russia called VK.com all owe their most notable features to Facebook's co-creator Mark Zuckerberg.
In May 2012, Facebook Inc. announced that it would go public and opened the floodgates to those wanting to get a piece of the pie. Just last year, its stock price doubled and signs of economic prosperity seemed concrete. Recently, however, Zuckerberg unloaded 41.4 million Facebook shares for $2.3 billion to reaffirm his status as one of the youngest billionaires in the world. Typically, this alludes to a stock being overpriced. The message of financial safeguarding from the site's co-creator has led to some discussions about how long the social network monolith will actually stick around.
A recent study by two Princeton students came to a conclusion that Facebook will lose 80 per cent of its peak user base by 2017, to which Alex Fitzpatrick of Time magazine later counter argued that search engine queries, which the Princeton study is based on, do not attribute to the life of a social networking site. Fitzpatrick explained that what Facebook has that MySpace didn't is critical mass and connection to publishers, advertisers, and services across the Internet. Its connection of families and friends means that there is little to gain from actually leaving Facebook. Arguably, leaving Facebook can make contact with someone more difficult if they don't use email or own a phone. Thus, even though the site loses millions of users every so often, it easily recuperates the loss. In short, Facebook has strong support based on communicational necessity and MySpace did not.
So what would the world wide web be like without Facebook?
“Facebook has a lot more social media impact than MySpace ever did, that's for sure,” said Brandon Lucking, a gen ed student at Fanshawe. “They talk about it on the news all the time, and [they never really talked about] MySpace.”
In contrast, Music Industry Arts student Kira Longeuay noted, “Facebook has an expiration date, whether it be in the next year or five years from now. It's just the newest MSN and it's only a matter of time before a newer, better social networking platform takes the reigns from Facebook in social and communicative popularity.”
So when we consider our own experiences with previously popular social networking sites or even the simple webpage creator Piczo, the future of Internet communication would very well be confined to numerous websites without a cohesive “home base” that most users find refuge in.
Even so, there are people who delete their Facebook or start a new account for different reasons. Some want their networks to be limited to a small pool of friends and family so they will make a new account or “trim the fat” by deleting people they don't make contact with anymore. Others delete their profiles when they feel it doesn't serve a good purpose to them.
Whatever the reason, we can be assured that social networking is still a relatively new development that plays a large role in our lives, and the only true way to measure its acceptance by Internet users is to give each domain its time to grow.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Prior to Facebook, we had very minimal social networking options. MySpace for a short period was reigning supreme by its millions of users that enjoyed the customizable aspect of it and its dedication to artist profiles. It fell as fast as it rose when the large user base (mostly high school and late elementary school students) migrated to Facebook and became immediately hooked on its basic, ad-free design that slowly added in the features we've all become accustomed to: “checking in” to businesses, following celebrities' status updates, connecting other social media apps and the all-encompassing Facebook Chat that inevitably defeated MSN instant messenger.
Facebook has been the general template and inspiration for many other social networking sites. Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and even a blatant Facebook clone based in Russia called VK.com all owe their most notable features to Facebook's co-creator Mark Zuckerberg.
In May 2012, Facebook Inc. announced that it would go public and opened the floodgates to those wanting to get a piece of the pie. Just last year, its stock price doubled and signs of economic prosperity seemed concrete. Recently, however, Zuckerberg unloaded 41.4 million Facebook shares for $2.3 billion to reaffirm his status as one of the youngest billionaires in the world. Typically, this alludes to a stock being overpriced. The message of financial safeguarding from the site's co-creator has led to some discussions about how long the social network monolith will actually stick around.
A recent study by two Princeton students came to a conclusion that Facebook will lose 80 per cent of its peak user base by 2017, to which Alex Fitzpatrick of Time magazine later counter argued that search engine queries, which the Princeton study is based on, do not attribute to the life of a social networking site. Fitzpatrick explained that what Facebook has that MySpace didn't is critical mass and connection to publishers, advertisers, and services across the Internet. Its connection of families and friends means that there is little to gain from actually leaving Facebook. Arguably, leaving Facebook can make contact with someone more difficult if they don't use email or own a phone. Thus, even though the site loses millions of users every so often, it easily recuperates the loss. In short, Facebook has strong support based on communicational necessity and MySpace did not.
So what would the world wide web be like without Facebook?
“Facebook has a lot more social media impact than MySpace ever did, that's for sure,” said Brandon Lucking, a gen ed student at Fanshawe. “They talk about it on the news all the time, and [they never really talked about] MySpace.”
In contrast, Music Industry Arts student Kira Longeuay noted, “Facebook has an expiration date, whether it be in the next year or five years from now. It's just the newest MSN and it's only a matter of time before a newer, better social networking platform takes the reigns from Facebook in social and communicative popularity.”
So when we consider our own experiences with previously popular social networking sites or even the simple webpage creator Piczo, the future of Internet communication would very well be confined to numerous websites without a cohesive “home base” that most users find refuge in.
Even so, there are people who delete their Facebook or start a new account for different reasons. Some want their networks to be limited to a small pool of friends and family so they will make a new account or “trim the fat” by deleting people they don't make contact with anymore. Others delete their profiles when they feel it doesn't serve a good purpose to them.
Whatever the reason, we can be assured that social networking is still a relatively new development that plays a large role in our lives, and the only true way to measure its acceptance by Internet users is to give each domain its time to grow.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
