Did Facebook shoot itself in the face with its latest format change? My friends are posting messages like these:
“Zucky may not give a hoot right now, but he will when we’re all on Diaspora.”
“Social media rethink. Twitter account is gone, G+ account is on the chopping block, and having serious thoughts about closing the FB account. Have Diaspora invites available, that will probably be the only one I’ll stay with.”
If you’ve been on Facebook any length of time, you’ve seen this before. Every time Mark Zuckerberg and his team change something, people howl in protest. They start “I Hate the New Facebook” groups. They post status updates threatening to jump ship for Google+ (and now Disapora). Naturally, though, they post their protests and threats to Facebook … where else, indeed?
The last time there was a Facebook brouhaha, I opened a G+ account by way of exploring my options. Ten of my Facebook friends did the same thing. Two months later, it’s still just the eleven of us … and we’re all still on Facebook.
I hate to say it, because it will just encourage Mr. Zuckerberg, but the whole point of Facebook is that everyone is there. Unless most of your friends and family follow, you’re going to be lonely on G+ or Diaspora. And you’ll find yourself checking back in on Facebook all the time, because that’s where everyone is.
That’s not to say a mass migration is impossible … look what happened to Myspace. But I don’t think G+ is ever going to be a Facebook killer. My own experience with it has been positive, but it’s nothing like Facebook. I mainly use G+ to follow prominent bloggers and some of my favorite authors … and rewardingly, many of them follow me (which never seems to happen on Twitter).
Diaspora is new and, like G+ was at first, by invitation only. I think I’ve wangled an invite and will certainly check it out, but I’ll be very surprised if more than a few friends migrate over.
I mentioned earlier that the whole point of Facebook is that everyone is there. If Facebook manages to drive large numbers of members away, the whole social media scene will suffer. Imagine a day when a third of your friends are on Facebook, a third on Disapora, and a third on G+ … is that what anyone wants?
I’d just as soon have all my friends in one place, even if it does mean a monopoly for Facebook. I can learn to live with the new format, as I have learned to live with every other change that’s rolled down the pike since I’ve been a member.
One more Bejeweled Blitz invite, though, and I’m outta there!