Mums on Facebook

Recently Facebook has been reported at some staggeringly large valuations. With a possible 2012 IPO looming, investors seem extremely eager to take a slice out of Facebook's very large pie. So how much is Facebook acually worth? $50 billion, $60 billion? More?

Well for me I don't see how that valuation has any justification.......

Facebook Is Cool

5 years ago I signed up for Facebook. Back then I was 22 years old and I signed up because everyone was talking about it. It seemed like the place to be, the place where everything was happening, you were deemed "uncool" if you weren't at the Facebook party. So I joined and had a great couple of years tagging friends in pictures, writing on each others walls, sending pointless messages and poking just about everyone I knew.

These days my Facebook experience consists of avoiding it's influence as much as possible. I'll admit I check out what other people are doing, but I never post anything of my own, I haven't uploaded a photo in over 2 years and my last status update I can't even remember. So am I counted in Mr Zuckerberg's number of half a billion users? Just how many of these users are actually using their accounts?

It's a question that has led me delve further into the way my friends use the service and I found that my friends are also shying away from the Facebook system. The media may lead you to think otherwise. Yeah, my friends have accounts, but their Facebook walls are only scattered with activity from the last 18 months. They accepted a friend request or two, their last photo uploads are from events which happened years earlier and one close friend draws a blank with "no recent posts". Has Facebook now become what it has always strived to avoid? Has Facebook become an "uncool" place to be?

Mum's On Facebook

It always felt wrong when you started to see your friends parents had signed up. No longer was it a place for you and your friends to carry on your social life, it had now become like sitting in the pub with your mates and your mum is sitting at the next table. Yet despite these problems Facebook has managed to go from strength to strength. Why? Well it could be argued that Mr Zuckerbergs user figures are not all they seem to be. half a billion registered users is often thrown in your face, but not many figures on how many people use their accounts on a regular basis. They're the real numbers.

Also as Facebook has been dominated by younger users up until now, are we seeing more and more older users registering on the site, pushing away the younger users and starting the "It's cool to be on Facebook" cycle all over again. But this time for the over 40's?

Like any new relationship, it's a new thing for them, there's an intial spark of excitement. Everyone else did that part years ago. We're tired now.

The Media Loves Facebook

How old would you say the average professional is that controls the media output? How old to you think the people controlling big financial investment deals are? As old as mum? They won't be twenty somethings that's for sure. Could it possibly be that these influential people are also logging onto the social network and experiencing those new feelings as the cool kids did 5 years ago? There's not many people in their teens or twenties that have the means, status or high presence up the corporate ladder to be heard over the bigger boys.

So are we left with middle aged men and women who think Facebook is "cool", racking up $50 billion dollar plus valuations of a company who will one day meet the demise that similar sites such as MySpace, Bebo etc did only a few years ago? And do they believe that the site is retaining all of those half a billion users? Only time will tell, but we could be see a change in Facebook advertising trends shifting focus from pushing products geared toward younger members and replacing them with targeted ads for users in an older age bracket.

Privacy

For some reason Mr Zuckerberg feels that we want to share everything. When in fact, we don't want to share much at all. Not only does sharing your information mean Facebook can target advertisements far more easily, it also boosts their profits. Mark really doesn't like you altering all those settings and making yourself as private as possible.

Even more absurd is the new Facebook places which allows you to share your location and also who your with. I personally, could not think of anything more horrific than taking out my phone, sharing with you where I am currently located and then also taking the time to select the friends I'm with. So I can tell you all that they're also here with me. If I wanted you to know where we are, I'd have invited you too. Maybe I should tell you what colour underpants I have on while I'm at it? Maybe you can post a sarcastic comment when I tell you I'm currently at the supermarket? Not forgetting of course to "tag" mum and dad in at the location with me.

Nowadays you can't get away from it. With like buttons and Facebook comments appearing on almost every site you visit it feels like it's all a bit much. I feel as though I want to leave the house party, but my mate is driving and he doesn't want to go just yet, we might miss something.

Why Don't We Leave

As a kid you used to hang around in the same places. These places changed as you grew. It's a similar story in the internet world. To put it simply, there's nowhere else to go. When we left MySpace we went to Facebook. Nobody wanted to be on MySpace, that was yesterdays news. The next fad is not too far away.

There is no doubt Facebook's fall from grace will not be so abrupt as it's predecessors, but eventually the kids will get bored of this toy. They already are, and the latest craze is just around the corner, we just don't know it yet. Even mum hadn't heard of "social networking" 10 years ago. It is only a matter of time before we see the youngsters shift to the next craze. $50 billion?

I will certainly be watching the company with great interest.

ENDS

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