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Facebook’s Inevitable Demise vs. Twitters Mere Invincibility (#StevenJohnson)
The two most popular social networking sites at the moment coexist in complete harmony. This is because they work in completely different ways and users implement them for completely different functions. While Facebook is rapidly approaching one billion (yes I said it, one BILLION) users, one must address the question of where the company is headed. With the recent drop in Facebook’s stock, it is more apparent than ever that the company is going to need to innovate in order to not fall into the abyss like other internet giants have done in the past i.e. AOL, MySpace. Facebook is no longer simple and easy to maneuver on; instead the user is inundated with newsfeeds and BS that you couldn’t care less about (does anyone really use the lists feature??). Sure it’s cool for college kids and younger people, however it does not meet the demands of the older more mature community. SImply put, Facebook is a liability for young adults and others in professional fields. Facebook lacks a coherent and comprehensive profit model as people shift away from browsers and move towards mobile and tablets. Facebook needs to adapt in a huge way if it is to avoid its inevitable demise. Too big to fail: I think not. In fact, I think exactly the opposite.
Now let’s shift to Twitter. Twitter will never die. It’s simple, easy, uncluttered and does not have a revenue model based upon advertising. Simplicity is the key recipe to gaining users and retaining those that they already have. Facebook’s ever increasing complications and confusing influxes add little to the overall utility of the site, while turning users off. If you really needed to talk to someone there are so many alternatives. I don’t know, maybe the phone? Skype? Facebook will fade off, while twitter will only grow its user base, because it stuck to its original model, and never deviated. Facebook is trying to do too much, while twitter continues to stick with its bread and butter (a phenomenal product). And in a world where everyone is trying to get into the app game, a social marketing like platform will prove to be a much more valuable tool than Facebook.
Comments welcome, and do the poll below on which Zynga game was the biggest fad. Also, remember to tune in tomorrow for the weekly ‘Rantarella Sunday Special’. #HappyBlogging!!
Weekly Friday Poll
Our Team and the ‘Rantarella Sunday Special’
Up until this point, we have been posting news and opinionated blogs on cutting-edge technology, tech startups, and entrepreneurship in general, but we haven’t yet had the chance to introduce our team. The team consists of Colin Sullivan, as well as Dan Spinelli and Tripp White. We will be updating this blog on a regular basis and would love any comments or tweets (@OptiLaunch or @Colin_Sullivan) re: OptiLaunch and the blog.
We would also like to introduce you to “Rantarella”, who at the moment will remain nameless (he may discuss some pretty controversial issues, and we don’t want you showing up at his doorstep). All we can tell you is that he will be posting once a week (if we get positive feedback), on Sunday, and the topic might be on anything from reviews on video games and restaurants, to opinionated pieces on the Holocaust (he’s Jewish…kinda). It is duly named: “The Rantarella Sunday Special”. Tune in!
-Colin Sullivan (CEO – OptiLaunch)
What percentage of PC online usage will mobile phones displace? Is it feasible that people will “cut the broadband cord” and live exclusively off of their mobile internet access?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-cuban/facebook-ipo_b_1542252.html
I came across this article on the Huffington Post and it really made me think. Mark Cuban, the overzealous owner of the Dallas Mavericks as well as Chairman of HDNet, talks about how Facebook was eaten up on the secondary market so that when the IPO was launched there was as surplus of shares. Facebook over-relied on the secondary market and therefore the stock dropped precipitously after the IPO came out. Cuban also goes into the argument that in this day in age mobile devices are replacing computers as the go-to platform for all your social networking needs, and its draconian consequence for Facebook-which relies heavily on the revenue from games and ads that are solely used on one’s browser.
Is it likely that people will dramatically shift towards mobile devices and drop their PC or Laptops? It would surely save some money. Personally, I like the feeling of my laptop-the bigger screen, the flexibility of switching back and forth between multiple tabs, and just the overall experience (I also can’t do the type of work on a laptop as I can on a desktop PC). I love my Android-don’t get me wrong. However, I like typing on a big keyboard (maybe I just have fat fingers), and not squinting at the screen while walking with my head down and bumping into people. While mobile phones are clearly gaining momentum, I just can’t see myself dropping my broadband for the 4G network. I think my smartphone is a nice addition to my desktop and laptop. It’s nice to be able to see my email whenever I need to, or play games on my phone, but I will always be faithful to my laptop and the experience it gives me. Read the article and let me know your thoughts. I’d love to hear them.
Our First Blog!!
As our title would suggest, this is our first blog ever. To begin, OptiLaunch, is a start-up technology company with an emphasis on mobile applications in the Android Market. We have decided to start blogging because we realize that user insights are extremely vital in our line of work. Simply put, user-friendly applications get results. We want to know why people like the Android Market and therefore, Android phones. Personally, I love the concept of the widgets that are available for Android phones and not available for iPhones. Widgets give you a creative and unique resources to accomplish things more quickly while taking up less screen than actual application interface portals. I was recently reading Jason Hiner’s blog at techrepublic.com and came across a post about why widgets were the thing he would miss the most if he only had an iPhone. Check out the blog for yourself below and let us know what you think! We are extremely excited to begin blogging with everyone and we will keep the content fresh on a daily basis. We strongly encourage that anyone please read and comment on our blog because we are extremely interested in what you have to say. Any help we could get from the blogging community about how to make our blog most effective would be greatly appreciated and extremely helpful. Look for us on other blogs as well because we intend to be a presence in our new-found hobby of blogging!!
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/hiner/15-android-widgets-that-will-make-iphone-users-jealous/5649
OptiLaunch 