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If you look at the concept of disruption (not what most people think disruption is, but the actual definition from the guy who coined the term in The Innovator'
by bluetwo 10y ago
If you look at the concept of disruption (not what most people think disruption is, but the actual definition from the guy who coined the term in The Innovator's Dilemma), it is a small competitor that arises that better serves a need that only a small part of the market cares about that goes on top create a true competitor. They don't have to do everything the biggie does, they just have to do one important thing better.
For instance, Instagram might have been a Facebook killer, which is why they bought them early. Oculus Rift might also have been (but that's a stretch I think). Just to play it safe they also bought them.
So what are the features that a minority of the market cares about at this point that might spawn a competitor that would challenge FB?
Someone dedicated to privacy, perhaps. Someone with a model that eliminates advertising, maybe, even if you have to pay a membership fee. Perhaps someone who does a better job of incorporating articles from third party sources without all the spam/fake news that clogs feeds. Maybe someone who does a better job of using the camera, or mobile-first/only technology, like pure audio instead of text/pictures.
Other ideas?
- joe_the_user 10y agoI would say that a lot of Facebook competitors aim for the kind of advantage you are describing. And inherently fail because of the combination of Facebook being able roll-out a similar feature, Facebook having network effect and Facebook not being especially demanding/abusive towards its customer base - on the later point, Facebook has banned posts or people registering false names but back-tracked and/or not been especially aggressive about it. They began as the tool of the early adopter but now are the tool of your grandmother with the stickiness of that. Consider that when Google decided to invest in Google+, they dove immediately into demanding more from customers than Facebook did with their real names policy. With all its success, Facebook's profitability still comes into doubt from time to time because they aren't squeezing their customers as they could. Which is altogether is to say that all Facebook's rivals have scheme to extract more from the customers than Facebook and thus it's similar to, but as extreme as Craiglist rivals - they can never be as good they because they're constrained to come with a model they expect will eventually make more money.
- bluetwo 10y agoSo in where is the market need where having too large of a network is a disadvantage? That's where you want to hit them.
- askafriend 10y agoTo see what a Facebook disruptor might look like in social, we can look at Pinterest or Nextdoor which can overtake key aspects of the way people use Facebook. Both Pinterest and Nextdoor go deep on an area of social that Facebook is too broad for and they do it better than Facebook arguably can.