Friday 19 October 2012

♔ THE END OF FACEBOOK (AS YOU KNOW IT) | 2004-2012

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Do you remember when you first used Facebook?  Think back if you will to those pre-IPO days when you (the empowered user,) could receive updates from ONLY those sources you actually cared about. Remember that liberating and democratizing time when you actually could control the content you were exposed to? You were your own empowered media programmer and for potentially the first time YOU didn’t have to be exposed to all the crap you hated. If you didn’t like Burger King - you just didn’t “Like” Burger King. If your philosophical values meant you didn’t like Starbucks - you just didn’t “Like” Starbucks. It was your way of demonstrating what you really cared about. It was a simpler time when Brands had to actually EARN your interest and loyalty. Moreover they had to deliver value and extend actual transparency.

But then it happened. Facebook sold out. It may have been around the time that Twitter sold out to the Saudi Royal Family (see http://bit.ly/Twitter-fail). It may have been around the time when GENERAL MOTORS (the company best known today for making rental cars,) like a petulant teenager pulled all it’s advertising spend simply because the platform didn’t allow them to BUY their way in. They pulled their ad-spend essentially because the platform was too ‘democratic’.

Once the monetization process began, different ad units were extended, new page layouts, timelines, sponsorships and paid/promoted posts. Multiple vehicles - all designed at one thing – allowing brands (that you don’t care about in the least like the Starbuck's ad below as an example) to capture your attention again.  By doing this Facebook have effectively violated the basic premise that actually made it relevant and democratizing in the first place.
So, get ready to be increasingly reached by only large commercial interests - and NOT by the pages you actually care about.  Sadly, Facebook today has quickly eroded into just another corporate mouthpiece. 

Thoughts?  Be a part of the discussion. Tell us what you think?

 










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