Yeah, I'm sort of surprised myself. However, after reading "The Facebook Effect" and seeing "The Social Network", both of which I highly recommend, I've come to the conclusion that Facebook may be a nifty way of communicating, it is not the business messiah that everyone thinks it is.
Here's why:
I've never purchased anything at all from an ad that I saw on Facebook. Never. Have you? Come to think of it, I can't remember even clicking on an ad I saw on Facebook. That's not why I'm on there.
Everything that I "like" or been a "fan" of in months past I already "liked" long before Facebook. I "like" both Miatas and iPhones for instance, all Facebook does is give me a platform to share it with the world, which I don't think anyone cares about. (See my next point.)
I have never bought something because one of my Facebook friends "liked" something. Again, I ask you, have you?
Sure, 500 million Facebook users, even if only half are active, is a huge number. But from my personal experience and what I've learned from both the book and the movie, I don't think that anyone can make the jump from that number to "oh, I have to advertise on there."
There's also this nagging feeling that I can't seem to shake that since Facebook is free (and always will be if you believe the home screen) something is up. But I'll leave that for another post.
What do you think?
1 comment:
interesting take Lisa...I think that something big is about to pop making FB much more relevant for businesses. In fact, it's time for me to have a business page...thanks for the reminder. G
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