More thoughts on Facebook
Have you voted? No, not the presidential vote, thankfully
that is over. The vote on Facebook [“FB”] policies going forward. As stated in the
policies, if more than 30% of all active registered users vote, the results
will be binding. If turnout is less than 30%, the vote will be advisory. Don’t
they appear democratic when in reality FB can never be bound by users?
In previous blog posts here on The Rostra Novum* (The New Rostra), I wondered
aloud whether the new format, or going public was such a good idea; now I am curious
what Facebook has to do to meet shareholder demand. My presupposition is that
they have to give investors value in return for their stake in the company
and other than advertising on the pages which don’t work that well, FB’s best
revenue engine is data mining.
Facebookers expect to see an attractive format not always changing or confusing, logical interface without oppressive advertising
(I have never clicked on a pop-up ad), and plenty of visually stimulating
newsfeed items and timeline photographs about which they are interested. Issues
of control, privacy, shareholder value, security, patent infringement, mergers,
expansion to other devices, regulation, and overall user satisfaction swirl
around this nascent Goliath now such an integral part of our online lives.
Nonetheless, value in the platform is keeping up with friends and
their families in a way that could not have happened just five years ago! It is
a bragbook fueled by a culture of immodesty and narcissism allowing a user to
“share” and “show” the best and brightest side of their lives. The scale and
reach of Facebook is of inestimable value or users would have stopped logging
on daily a long time ago. It always amuses me when I hear someone took down
their FB page in rebellion against the Evil Empire, kind of like running away from
home as a kid; you know they’ll be back.
For people or organizations this huge platform is a way to
show the world in one “Page” what one makes out of life; how they fulfill their
existence whether commercially, artistically, or socially. In March 2012, FB
reported that there were more than 42 million “Pages” with 10 or more “Likes.”
Because this is the year after, the year of Facebook, and as
campy and narcissistic as it’s become, its enjoyment for me diminished; although
it is a great way to keep up with everyone’s photos. Now that half of American
adults are on FB, newbies and amateurs weigh down the newsfeed with clip art
musings, pet pictures, affable affirmations, and insignificant drivel only your
aging mother could love. (And having my parents on FB says a lot: it is hardly
cutting-edge, now fairly mainstream. If you want up-to-minute news, hip
commentary, and social relevance; go over to Twitter® your parents will never get on Twitter®).
Being completely open on social media, I don’t mind whether
people know my activities; however, when I think about what is out there, the enormous
amounts of data available chronicling my routines: where I work, shop, what I
read, eat, buy, whom I love, with whom I disagree, or where I go when I leave
my home? Marketing minions leverage this by profiling and targeting messages
for the audiences they address, whether the product or service is wanted. Who else is watching?
FB expects to gather as much data on its users as is
possible from all the items we place on their servers. It expects to use this
data to tailor advertising to each user every minute they are on the site. It
also expects to crunch all the data into usable sections of information that it
can market to companies who want to apply this amazing database to their
marketing. The immense value of all this should be reflected in the price of
Facebook stock [NASDAQ: FB] which has gone from $38 in May to as low as $17 in
September. So was the initial public offering price too high, poorly executed,
or does this proposition not quite yet bring enough value? As long as advertisers
can engage with more than 900 million monthly active users, Facebook will
always have a value-proposition, albeit one that evolves.
All this information is sliced and diced, stacked and folded
until it fits into the right spot; where the data dumps into exactly the right
inbox. Photo albums made of paper, cardboard, stickers and tape have been
digitally replaced. Does FB own all the pictures you took on vacation, at the reunion,
or sitting around your house? Even though these trinkets of time seem
unimportant to you; no one thinks they are valuable, someone out there is
curious enough to peek into your lifestyle. Is privacy and modesty dead?
Over Fourteen Thousand (14,586) visits after I started this
blog, readers still abound. Much of who I am is contained in these posts, just
like #Facebook. Since going on FB in 2009 and seeing it become a household word
in 2011, I’ve posted almost everyday until just about the time of the IPO
(“going public”).
Acknowledging their reach is recorded as massive, my
suspicion is that the decline in the stock price mirrors the loss of interest
in this platform. FB exists on a scale almost like a governmental entity which
supposedly exists for the benefit of the people. Changes in policy or format
send ripples throughout culture, but there is not much anyone can do if they
use the service for free? Which brings me back to the sham of voting about new
policies and the 30% threshold in order to make changes binding. Did you vote?
©Mark H.
Pillsbury
*blog post 12/25/2011 re: FB introduction of new Timeline format (rostra novum blog, see below)
*blog post 12/25/2011 re: FB introduction of new Timeline format (rostra novum blog, see below)
