Saturday, December 19, 2009

How long before Facebook becomes old?

This was the title of an article made by Yugatech a few days ago and he predicts that Facebook will be old in 2 - 3 years. A few hours ago when I was thinking about it I was disagreeing with this since the popularity of the other social networking sites was just overtaken by Facebook. In the Philippines, Friendster became dry because there is nothing to do there and FB then came to the rescue. Multiply now is just there and is probably slipping as well.

My question is after Facebook, then what? Will the hoards in Facebook simply transfer to a new and better social networking site. I actually got turned off with FB when they changed the format for the news feeds but I still am stuck on it. At this point I just don't have a choice. I've already built a network bigger than my Friendster and Multiply accounts and I've already 'built' a relationship with my said network.

That being said, I feel the dynamism and networks established on FB may make it last much longer (unless the site owners screw up big time). FB has evolved into a place where you not only get to socialize online but it is also a place where you throw-out and get information. A case I'd like to point out is the Ondoy tragedy where FB was used to disseminate information. So aside from it being a medium to see what your network of friends are doing, it is also a venue to voice an opinion and show information about what is happening around you and the community in general.

Given that it has its social and practical uses, I feel it will give people value for a much longer period of time. It has to evolve though and learn from the demise of its predecessors. What happens to the world wide web is hard to predict but FB must always be at pace or at least a step behind on how the dynamics of the digital age moves forward.

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