Through the emergence of new digital media technologies, society has become fully immersed in what Henry Jenkins describes as a “Convergence Culture” in which participation by all members of the community is essential. As a result, a number of social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and other similar sites have sprung up.
Following its release in February of 2004 by Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook surged in popularity throughout 2005.
There are 64 million registered Facebook users worldwide making the site the 6th most trafficked website on the Internet.
In its early days, users could connect only with others belonging to a college or university network. Facebook sought to distinguish itself from rival MySpace by centering on strengthening relationships with those you knew in your past. In Zuckerberg’s words to The New York Times: “We’re not thinking about ourselves as a community – we’re not trying to build a community – we’re not trying to make new connections”.
Much of its enormous popularity can be attributed to its user-friendly format. Facebook makes it simple for users to upload photos (14 million photos are uploaded daily!) and import their blogs from websites such as Livejournal and Blogger. In the past year, Facebook even added an application allowing users to post free classified advertisements modeling Craigslist.
Despite the fact that Facebook, as of yet, has not faced its demise, the future of the social networking phenomenon is dim. Throughout its short history, Facebook has been plagued by a number of controversies.
Following its release in 2004, a lawsuit was filed against Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, by the founders of ConnectU who allege that Zuckerberg stole the source code to create the social networking site.
Many feel that Zuckerberg’s lack of experience may lead to the end of Facebook. Afterall, how could Zuckerberg, a 23 year old CEO who developed this project in his dorm room, possibly bear the pressures of running a massive technology startup?
He has already made a number of what many consider to be devastating business and financial mistakes such as rejecting an offer of to sell Facebook to Viacom for $750 million. Facebook’s planned expenditure of $200 million for 2008 may also lead to a number of financial problems for the startup as they plan to increase their spending and double their number of employees, despite seeing a decrease in profits.
The website is also seeing a decline in its growth and popularity. In July, the website reported an average of 150,000 new users registering on a daily basis. A report released last month by Comscore, an Internet marketing research company, found that “the number of people who visit
Facebook has been leveling off over the past few months in the U.S.
With Facebook granting free access to users for their services, many have begun to wonder how the social networking website will manage to earn any money. In comes another crucial business mistake made by Zuckerberg: Project Beacon, which permitted users to be targeted with socially responsible ads based on information. Registered users of Facebook were outraged feeling that their privacy had been violated. Not only did Facebook manage to alienate itself from its loyal user base, but the plan to allow advertisers space on the site seemingly has backfired as advertisers are not achieving impressive results.
This is not the first time users have voiced their complaints over this issue. Controversy arose in the fall of 2006 when Facebook opened its doors to anyone with Internet, demolishing the unique feature that once distinguished itself from its rival MySpace.
So, what is Facebook to do? Over the course of the next five years, Zuckerberg plans to continue developing new applications to be accessible to users. But will this work? Only time will tell, but reports have shown that users are sick of all the “Application Spam” they are receiving and are at risk of alienating their users even more.
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For More Information
Facebook, Inc. News – The New York Times
