Posts tagged: Facebook
There’s a road sign that you should avoid in all your relationships.. the “One Way” sign. It’s rarely a clean cut “I’m getting nothing in return,” or “I’m not giving nothing,” but after awhile, and as I get older and hopefully a bit wiser, I learn that the best relationships are two-way. This is why stuff like Twitter and Facebook are great - it can create great, two-way relationships very quickly in business, among friends or reinforce amongst family. Lining up behind a common cause can, too. The “two way” can come in different forms, and everyone looks for and gets different things out of the relationships they have. However, it’s smart to once in awhile stop, especially if you’re unhappy, and ask, “Is it worth it?” Earlier this week I tweeted out an essay called “Better,” and although it’s not new it made me think about what ARE the valuable things? What about respect? What about the times in my life I’ve been in situations where I’ve given and given.. and gotten little to nothing back? And of course, as we’re all human, the times I may have done the same and didn’t even realize it at the time. That lack of cognizance - or mindfulness - is a plague that scourges us all at one time or another. Those imbalances - whether cosmic, karmic, or monetary - have consequences if you leave them unchecked that are directly corollary to the area they are in. So today, I ask you to think. With all of these social tools, are you making relationships that are two way? Are you possibly not being as aware as you could be about others?
Of course Facebook wants to monetize you more. It’s expected that Facebook will have 600m users and $1 billion in revenue at the end of the year.
Back-of-napkin math says that means they’re getting about $1.67 for you per year. Think about that.
All of the “value” the site provides, and they can’t even get $2 per year from advertisers for your account right now (averaged). Of course they’re turning off the privacy and turning up the sharing - there’s little way the current model is sustainable on the long term when they’ve raised $716 million in funding since most Venture Capital folks are looking for a major multiple (5x or 10x) payout.
Some people wonder, “Why do you say anything about Facebook privacy?” “You work in Social Media, is it appropriate for you to question?”
To be honest, most of our community has regrettably been stone silent on the issue. There’s a few reasons why I speak.
1) It’s the right thing to do
2) The actions of Facebook has the serious potential, after listening to experts I trust and merging that with my experience, to put the brakes on all kinds of social media long-term if people (or users) aren’t respected.
3) Allowing FB to get away with this and own the ecosystem hurts the whole concept of the open web and limits the potential of what social media can actually do.
