Facebook is worthless in the long-run.
mankabros.com
mankabros.com
The first few paragraphs talks about how Facebook has not and probably cannot charge its users. Google doesn't charge its users either; is Google "worthless?"
The next few paragraphs states that Facebook is not interesting anymore, claiming news feed is full of nothing but "bored office workers", "super moms", et al. First off, the author's experience is anecdotal. Second, all the "bored office workers" and "super mom" quotes - as stupid as they may sound - are parts of socializing. When we "chill out" with our friends, what do we talk about other than "man, my work sucks" or "omg, my son Jonny is learning to walk!"?
It is not that "bored office workers" and "super moms" are uninteresting; it's just that the author is either 1) independent and/or self-center or 2) has too many people on FB she doesn't care about. If it's the latter, the author should learn to "hide" uninteresting people in her stream.
Finally, the author ends the post by saying that FB's cost is rising and that it should charge $0.99/mth to "be worth something." Yet, never does the author mention 1) how much cost is rising and 2) how much FB's revenue is growing.
The details are unclear, but Facebook became cash-flow positive in 2009, and there's no signs of it slowing down.
So Facebook is worth something unless this whole "online social" thing-a-magic is really a fad. But to find out, shouldn't we ask all the "bored office workers" and the "super moms" - the people who socialize the most - rather than a business MBA who could care less about small talk?
I thought business schools teach people to write essays with strong arguments.
Source: Me. I'm in an MBA program.
"Check the value of Bebo, Myspace, Friendster, etc. and you'll see the future of Facebook."
What makes Facebook any less fragile? Perhaps social networking sites are intrinsically subject to the whims of fashion.
Facebook has been less fragile because it has provided more value for its users. That they have a 500m users locking in each other is a bonus. Whether Facebook continues to thrive depends on whether they can fend off competitors.
If all I ever had to talk about was work sucking and kids learning to walk, I would not consider life a fun adventure and would probably not ever speak. That's what philosophy, art, literature and technology are for: intriguing, awe-inspiring, non-mind-numbing conversation. The kind Facebook is not too good at promoting.
But not everyone is like that. Many parents care a lot about their children and can indeed talk about them all day. Many people also think work sucks and find it comforting to have friends who agree.
Whether you can have awe-inspiring conversations on Facebook depends on your FB friends. I've friends who frequently post tech news, political news, and other discussion-inspiring things on Facebook. I also have friends who post mind-numbing conversations online. Both are valuable to me.
However, I've got some fantastic friends with whom I talk medical ethics, the state of the world, our technical future, etc., almost exclusively. On Facebook, with those same friends (I constantly prune my FB friend list for real, current friends), no such conversation ever happens, even if we've (say) been on vacation away from each other for a solid week.
I've heard many many people say on FB: "This is not the place to have this debate, let's have coffee?" I'm convinced that there's no way to have a rational (but heartfelt) dialogue in the tiny, self-collapsing ("don't talk too much!") blue boxes that make up that all too superficial site.
(I mean it's called Facebook.)
Google is currently the king but Facebook is building the hooks to make it an even larger force for ad revenue.
Facebook seems to be trying to position themselves as more of a Google(gateway to the internet) and less of a straight social network.
Charging users would be suicide though maybe a slow one. Companies will pay for access to Facebook users.
"Yeah, because it's a $15 billion company (so they say) with costs that exceed revenue - and no signs of that ever changing."
What?
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I don't see the advertising model as unsustainable. What I wonder about is whether user interest is sustainable. I never check facebook anymore because updates get pushed to my phone, and because facebooking has gotten boring. I don't think this feeling is isolated to me.
Maybe there's a reason why social networks only seem to last a few years.
Also if you look at the rest of the site, as well as mankabros or w/e, it doesn't look uh, legit.
I have a difficult time believing any MBA could call fb 'worthless'. Maybe something like $100 billion is overvaluing it, but worthless? That's some strange mixture of ignorance and...
Anyway, I'm declaring this one a 'fake'. I think she's a comedian, or maybe just a troll.