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Well lets not just talk about North American markets. To give an example, Facebook Marketplace has become a considerable threat for "Small Items for Sale" cate
by iamspoilt 8y ago
Well lets not just talk about North American markets.
To give an example, Facebook Marketplace has become a considerable threat for "Small Items for Sale" category in emerging markets where classified websites other than Craigslist are dominant.
With its strong user profile integration that keeps out fake sellers, Marketplace has become a huge sell in countries like India, Pakistan and UAE.
I am definitely not surprised if Facebook would be going in for a vertical approach. Messenger used to be a part of Facebook. It's a stand alone product for a while now with bots for virtually anything (sellers are using them to give out promo codes), a separate mobile app and even a web app.
However, I don't see this verticalization to necessarily happen as a non-Facebook experience though. For Instagram, it makes sense to keep it that way and not bring it inside Facebook. For Marketplace and Events, it might not be the case because it needs that strong network affect and makes Facebook work as a platform to find, do and participate in things.
- QML 8y agoYou can also cite micro communities in United States. For example, college students use Facebook for anything from browsing memes to planning events to subletting their houses for the summer. It’s a pretty convenient ecosystem to tap into considering everybody’s already on Facebook (that was the original target demographic).
- iamspoilt 8y agoThat's a good example and very common in Canada as well.
- visarga 8y agonetwork affect? like in network feelings?
- iamspoilt 8y agoSee this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect This is particularly useful when trying to find new events per se. For example, I see a friend marking himself "interested" for a particular event on Facebook. I do the same and reach him out on Messenger to ask him / her to go together. I have to stick to Facebook because one way or the other, it gives me an avenue to socialize because people I know are there, use it regularly and are contributor to the network effect.
- TomK32 8y agoYes every market is different and needs to be conquered on its own. I'm living in Austria and FB Marketplace is being used but it's not as big (or good) as the existing willhaben.at or shpock.