In the spirit of trying to get a bit of discussion going in the comments section here at The Curbside Marketer once again (and to have a bit of fun), I propose to you a question: If you could make one social network just disappear from the Internet, which would it be?
Personally, just to stir things up a little bit, I’m going to go with Facebook. Admittedly, I do love Facebook and would hate to see it go for my personal use, but the thought of it disappearing is an interesting one.
On a personal level, it may encourage some people to return to that whole human interaction thing instead of poking, following, etc. (you’re right…probably not). Actual stalking complaints may rise, since cyber-stalking would be a little more difficult. We would even have to resort to other sites to store photos. All of this, I suppose, would be only until everyone found the next service to flock to, like Google+.
What’s really fascinating, though, is thinking about the brand side. Think of all of the brands that have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on ads, apps, and campaigns driven to get “Likes.” What would they do? My guess is cry a little bit.
After the tears have washed away all of the Facebook rainbows and unicorns, what is the brand left with? When a fan Liked a Page that’s in a forest that’s already been cut down, does it make a sound? (What???) It’s sort of beautiful to think about actually. What better kick in the pants by taking away a basket that so many people put all of their eggs in. The truest test of whether your brand was built on a strategy or based on a platform.
Of course, if you’ve had the right approach all along, then you should be able to regroup pretty quickly and continue reaching your customers and fans in other manners.
Or, if you’ve REALLY been doing a good job, they will come looking for you.
Image by Walt Jabsco.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
given a choice I too would have Facebook disappear – I dont particularly like anything about Facebook – its convenient for storing photos yes, but considering their terms of service, most photographers or artists I know wont store them there. Then there is the fact that things you talk about in private messages to your friends, end up as target ads down your sidebar mere minutes later. Its creepy – and I often wonder how much business a business really does get from FB ‘likes’. Considering its a free service one cant complain – too much.
Great point about it being a free service. Easy to forget that it’s a service that we don’t have any say in (for now anyways, until it potentially goes public) and are really at the mercy of Mark Zuckerberg, who could change it completely, sell it, or just shut it down if he wanted.
Surprised you said Facebook, but that would have been my choice.
As a friend (that I actually talk to over the phone and in person with sometimes) recently told me, Facebook is the perfect opportunity for him to be a BAD friend because now he just posts on FB and rarely reaches out like he used to with his close friends.
FB = Bad friend
That’s a great way of putting it Jon. Also funny to think about how people would organize parties / get togethers without sending out a big Facebook invite. And, when you drop your phone in the lake…you may have to actually ask people for their phone numbers face-to-face!
I’m certain it’s just because I’m an asshole, but I’d love to see Facebook implode. All the people scrambling around and crying that they lost all their “likes” that they acquired through Facebook ads at only $1.07/person would crack me up. I’d re-tweet and make fun of them more than I did all the college students unable to do their homework when Wikipedia was blacked out for SOPA.
If I had to choose one, I’d get rid of LinkedIn. It’s gotten to the point where I despise seeing LinkedIn emails from people who want to “connect” with me. This just creates an additional action for me (having to approve it if I think they’re interesting or delete the email if I don’t), and 99% of the time, people who want to connect don’t even bother starting a conversation. I get it; it’s a professional network/your resume online/your online rolodex. It just drives me crazy sometimes.
Interesting choice there, Jason. I would agree in that it’s probably one of the most underutilized or misused networks out there. Unfortunately, I think most people get very active on it either when they’re looking for new jobs or for bizdev purposes, both of which can be pretty darn annoying for the rest of us. When used right though (which could be argued for any social network), I think it may be one of the most useful tools for professionals.