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It took nearly 1000 words to say this is all a gut feeling? Can you dismiss their 65 billion page views a month? The fact that half of their users return daily

by ed 19y ago

It took nearly 1000 words to say this is all a gut feeling? Can you dismiss their 65 billion page views a month? The fact that half of their users return daily? Can you explain why it's not valuable to essentially own most interpersonal relationships on the web?

xlnt 19y ago
pokemon is popular too. that doesn't make it important in the sense matt means.
- ed 19y ago
  But it's not just popular. Almost any undergraduate in the US will tell you that facebook is already an essential social resource. That isn't trivial nor is it easy to dismiss.
  - xlnt 19y ago
    how is "anyone will tell you it's awesome" different than "popular"? if they know something that makes it fundamentally important you could relate what that thing is, rather than just implying there is one.
- cglee 19y ago
  I have a fairly young sister. Just a few years ago, she was absolutely obsessed with pokemon. The only way we could get her to do math was with pokemon flashcards. To her and her friends, pokemon was their life. Note: she's since outgrown it and is now obsessed with anime and gaiaonline (i'd never heard of the thing until recently -- apparently VERY popular).
webwright 19y ago
He's not dismissing it or saying that it's not valuable. And, for the record, AOL had a staggering percentage of eyeballs at their peak. I think the distinction is that Google is a technological advancement/phenomenon which seems lasting. Facebook is a SOCIAL phenomenon which (to Matt) does not. I'm inclined to agree with him. I think we'll be talking about Facebook in a few years the way we talk about AOL right now.
- mattmaroon 19y ago
  I think they have legs. I mean, I think people will still use social networking in 5 years. And they may do it primarily on Facebook. I'm not trying to say that it or Facebook are a fad, or that Facebook isn't very good at it. I just don't think their value at the time will even be 1/10th of Google's because of the distinction you accurately summed up.
  - volida 19y ago
    "will even be 1/10th" that will depend if they succeed to monetize their success. You can't be sure so sure any predictions for anything these days.
    - mattmaroon 19y ago
      They almost can't monetize like Google. Google is active. You go there because you're looking for something specific. It's really easy (now) to make money off of the guy who Google's for "ipod". On Facebook, you're relaxing. You're not in action mode. It's going to be hard for them to come up with ways to monetize passive traffic. The best anyone has done in offline media is show branding ads. This may work, and may even make them profitable, but it won't make them Google.
  - blader 19y ago
    If Google-like valuations is the bar for 'importance', then what's important on the internet other than Google?
wumi 19y ago
a lot of users return daily to check their messages and wall posts, sorta like email
run4yourlives 19y ago
Can you explain how they make money?

by ed 19y ago

xlnt 19y ago

pokemon is popular too. that doesn't make it important in the sense matt means.

ed 19y ago
But it's not just popular. Almost any undergraduate in the US will tell you that facebook is already an essential social resource. That isn't trivial nor is it easy to dismiss.
- xlnt 19y ago
  how is "anyone will tell you it's awesome" different than "popular"? if they know something that makes it fundamentally important you could relate what that thing is, rather than just implying there is one.
cglee 19y ago
I have a fairly young sister. Just a few years ago, she was absolutely obsessed with pokemon. The only way we could get her to do math was with pokemon flashcards. To her and her friends, pokemon was their life. Note: she's since outgrown it and is now obsessed with anime and gaiaonline (i'd never heard of the thing until recently -- apparently VERY popular).

webwright 19y ago

He's not dismissing it or saying that it's not valuable. And, for the record, AOL had a staggering percentage of eyeballs at their peak. I think the distinction is that Google is a technological advancement/phenomenon which seems lasting. Facebook is a SOCIAL phenomenon which (to Matt) does not. I'm inclined to agree with him. I think we'll be talking about Facebook in a few years the way we talk about AOL right now.

mattmaroon 19y ago
I think they have legs. I mean, I think people will still use social networking in 5 years. And they may do it primarily on Facebook. I'm not trying to say that it or Facebook are a fad, or that Facebook isn't very good at it. I just don't think their value at the time will even be 1/10th of Google's because of the distinction you accurately summed up.
- volida 19y ago
  "will even be 1/10th" that will depend if they succeed to monetize their success. You can't be sure so sure any predictions for anything these days.
  - mattmaroon 19y ago
    They almost can't monetize like Google. Google is active. You go there because you're looking for something specific. It's really easy (now) to make money off of the guy who Google's for "ipod". On Facebook, you're relaxing. You're not in action mode. It's going to be hard for them to come up with ways to monetize passive traffic. The best anyone has done in offline media is show branding ads. This may work, and may even make them profitable, but it won't make them Google.
- blader 19y ago
  If Google-like valuations is the bar for 'importance', then what's important on the internet other than Google?

wumi 19y ago

a lot of users return daily to check their messages and wall posts, sorta like email

run4yourlives 19y ago

Can you explain how they make money?