Facebook’s initial
public offering is now less than two weeks away. The craze surrounding it will almost
certainly cause it to be overvalued initially.
More importantly, the release raises the question of just how viable
Facebook will be in the long run. Whether
Facebook will remain mainstream in the future or join MySpace in the digital
graveyard is a hotly debated topic.
Many people believe
that at this point Facebook is so widely used that it would be extremely
difficult if not impossible to take their place in the realm of social
media. The way I see it, it is only a
matter of time until the “next Zuckerburg” arrives and offers something that
trumps Facebook. There is always going
to be something better and more advanced that will come along. If you asked anyone five or six years ago if
AOL Instant Messenger would ever be dated, I’m sure you would get the same response
as if you asked an identical question about Facebook today. Ultimately, I see two factors opening the
door for competitors down the road.
1.
A
site with a more narrow focus will move in.
Facebook seems like they are already starting to over expand. Newsfeeds are now cluttered with notifications
about Words With Friends, Spotify and friends viewing videos and reading
articles. I can see this trend starting
to frustrate people in the future. Much
like the way Facebook originally catered to college students and made MySpace
obsolete, another site with a narrower focus could crop up and get a foothold
in the market.
2.
A
site will be able to aggregate everything and make the internet a one stop experience
(cough cough Google). Google now competes
with Facebook via Google+ . Users can
already search the internet, access their e-mail, get directions, instant
message and search YouTube on one site.
It is only a matter of time before Google, or another site, is able to
patch all of these services together under a single umbrella.
I am now about to post the link to this blog on Facebook. Stay tuned though because at this time next year, it may be posted to MySpace, Google+ or something we haven't heard of yet.
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