Dan Gilleland posted on July 25, 2009 07:13
An interesting article is written by Kurt Soller (original source: Newsweek). Here’s my thoughts (which I posted in comments to that article as well).
Another factor to consider is demographics. Although this is alluded to in the article, it should be examined in its own right.
Here’s what I’m observing: It appears to me that FaceBook’s early appeal has been to young people. But older people are finding it to be a quick/easy way to keep in touch, and are signing up in increasing numbers (at rates, I suspect, that are higher then what’s happening with the “under-30″ crowd right now). Then they “friend” their kids (as mentioned in the article) – this is the “uncool-ness” factor; imagine a college party or event that your parents show up at.
Like I said, this has been alluded to in the article, but what should be examined in the aftermath of people abandoning, disabling or deleting their accounts is this: Are there demographics to who’s leaving FaceBook? Maybe FaceBook’s evolution will be to grab the older people who are starting to get around to getting on the ‘net. Perhaps there are clues here that could lead to a profitable business model.