Reports of Facebook’s demise are laughable

Posted by Justin Goldsborough | 0 comments

You know when people complain about something over and over again, but never really do anything about it. They just want to complain. Professional sports is a good example. Fans complain about their team but they keep going to the games. Happens all the time. Cable TV is another. It costs too much, but how many people are really willing to live without it?

Facebook is the new cable TV. Every day, people complain about Facebook. Most of the time, on Facebook. It’s a black fly in your chardonnay.

Here are some of the complaints I’ve heard recently:

1. Can you believe Facebook is using all our personal information to sell ads?

2. Facebook is making it look as if I liked brands I’ve never even head of. Or brands I can’t stand.

3. These promoted posts in my news feed are annoying.

4. Why even have a brand page? Facebook is forcing brands to pay in order for any of the company’s fans to see its content.

5. Facebook better watch out because Google+ is gaining steam and those that get fat and happy end up just fat after a while.

Let’s take these one by one…

1. Can you believe Facebook is using all our personal information to sell ads? Uh yeah, I can. We don’t pay anything to use the platform. And we are the ones giving Facebook all that information. It’s called opt-in.

2. Facebook is making it look as if I liked brands I’ve never even head of. Or brands I can’t stand. Yeah, that’s weird. But I don’t really care that much. Unless Facebook says I like the New York Yankees. Then we’re fighting. Either way, I’ll be on Facebook tomorrow morning.

3. These promoted posts in my news feed are annoying. Really? I think half of my friend’s posts in my news feed are annoying too. And some of the sponsored posts I’ve seen are actually pretty cool, useful content. Some do suck, but if you just continue scrolling or hit that magic “down arrow” then presto-chango, the sponsored posts are gone.

4. Why even have a brand page? Facebook is forcing brands to pay in order for any of the company’s fans to see its content. True to an extent. But Facebook is kind of becoming like Twitter in that right. In order for your posts to be seen, you need a lot of engagement or you pay to promote them. Thus is the evolution of social media. This native advertising trend is not going away. Facebook did go public. Per Sean Parker in The Social Network, ads may not be cool but they pay the bills.

5. Facebook better watch out because Google+ is gaining steam and those that get fat and happy end up just fat after a while. Google+ does indeed appear to be gaining steam. More active users and I’m seeing more friends sing its praises these days. That said, we’re talking a tug boat vs a cruise liner. Let’s play out a scenario. Kansas loses a tight basketball game to Mizzou by one  point because Jeff Withey misses a wide open dunk with two seconds left. Jayhawk fans will be up in arms…until the next game. And there’s no way in hell they’ll leave KU to cheer for the Tigers. KU is Facebook. Mizzou is Google+. You get my drift. Aren’t analogies fun?

95 percent of people are too invested in Facebook to leave. At least 95 percent. The complaining will continue. But until something major happens, only a very few will actually return their cable box and only watch Netflix or Hulu.