This post is going to be short and sweet.
So Facebook is supposedly now worth $15b now that Microsoft has bought 1.6% for $240m - bullshit.
I don't know about you but even though I used Facebook at least twice a day I'm certainly not wedded to the platform and although there are no competitors out there on the market today I know that should something else come along that offers more functionality (and there is so much more Facebook could be doing..... a lot more) then I'll walk.
If given the choice between owning Ford (market capitalization of $13b on yesterdays closing) and owning Facebook I would take Ford each and every day because the barriers to entry are so much higher in the auto industry - for all Microsoft knows some kid is working on a Facebook killer in his parents basement and is ready to walk all over Facebooks $15b valuation.
What applications/websites are you absolutely wedded to and can't imagine something coming along that is an improvement?
(For me it's Plaxo)
Cheers,
Dean
I never heard of Plaxo.
ReplyDeleteI think there're really not many social networks I really need. I use IM a lot every day, and I use plazes almost every day. But I think I could even live without that.
We had a group of Columbia MBA’s at the Lab yesterday and had a similar discussion. It was fun to see how many people were on Friendster when that was going to be the end-all for social networking and how few people still use it today. Or how about Ryze? Lots of folks — myself included — used to be on Ryze every day and I can’t remember being on Ryze in the last 6 months. The problem with the social networking sites is that they have the opportunity to come & go very quickly and lose all of that value right away. And with the push that Facebook is making into advertising to monetize all of that value could make people want to leave them faster. Lately, Myspace has been losing traffic while Facebook is up and there are people who feel that the advertising on Myspace is at least partially responsible for that trend. So, it’ll be interesting to see where all of these social sites end up in the future!
ReplyDeleteDavid Polinchock
www.BrandExperienceLab.org