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Facebook has no real incentive to reach out to this age group. They won't earn much profit off of teens, and teens are younger than their original demographic (

Facebook has no real incentive to reach out to this age group. They won't earn much profit off of teens, and teens are younger than their original demographic (college-aged students). Also, I thought the line about "everyone says Facebook is dying" was quite telling. The stats say otherwise, but people will believe what they want (or what the media tells them).

chatmasta 13y ago
What about in five years, when the same teens are college students?
- mosqutip 13y ago
  Well, you're implying there's a great deal of foresight and future investment going on :P I don't think the turnover from Facebook is currently high enough for "management", as it were, to care about the opinions of a few teenagers.
- mk1x 13y ago
  Exactly, of course you should focus on your most profitable demographic when launching a new product. But once you have a sustainable business it's important to think about where your money will be coming from in the future. I doubt anyone will say that tobacco companies marketing to teenagers is a bad idea because they can't even buy the product yet. It ensures the long term profitability of the company.
  - Chronic24 13y ago
    If it is not a bad idea, then why don't I see them marketing cigarettes to teens and/or lobbing congress (to get X law passed).
    - hkolek 13y ago
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_advertising#Targeting_youth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_advertising#Targeting_y... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_advertising#Advertisement_control http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_advertising#Advertiseme...
alex_c 13y ago
Of course, nobody goes on Facebook anymore. It's too crowded.
liljimmytables 13y ago
I don't think they have anything to fix. The teenagers in the article seemed to believe that your social status is crippled without Facebook. It might be a Machiavellian way to get eyeballs on advertisements, but by criminy it's working, and at the end of the day the end users aren't the customers.
k-mcgrady 13y ago
Of course they have incentive. They need to get users while they are young (i.e. before they are using a competitor). Teenagers take and post a lot of photos. If you get them to store them on Facebook you lock them in for life. Then you get value from them in 5-10 years. If Facebook only thinks short-term like you suggest they will die. And I think it's been proven Facebook has always thought long-term (e.g. prioritising UX and getting users over advertising for a long time after launch).
alsocasey 13y ago
The incentive is advertising revenue - teens are a very attractive ad market.

chatmasta 13y ago

What about in five years, when the same teens are college students?

mosqutip 13y ago
Well, you're implying there's a great deal of foresight and future investment going on :P I don't think the turnover from Facebook is currently high enough for "management", as it were, to care about the opinions of a few teenagers.
mk1x 13y ago
Exactly, of course you should focus on your most profitable demographic when launching a new product. But once you have a sustainable business it's important to think about where your money will be coming from in the future. I doubt anyone will say that tobacco companies marketing to teenagers is a bad idea because they can't even buy the product yet. It ensures the long term profitability of the company.
- Chronic24 13y ago
  If it is not a bad idea, then why don't I see them marketing cigarettes to teens and/or lobbing congress (to get X law passed).
  - hkolek 13y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_advertising#Targeting_youth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_advertising#Targeting_y... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_advertising#Advertisement_control http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_advertising#Advertiseme...

alex_c 13y ago

Of course, nobody goes on Facebook anymore. It's too crowded.

liljimmytables 13y ago

I don't think they have anything to fix. The teenagers in the article seemed to believe that your social status is crippled without Facebook. It might be a Machiavellian way to get eyeballs on advertisements, but by criminy it's working, and at the end of the day the end users aren't the customers.

k-mcgrady 13y ago

Of course they have incentive. They need to get users while they are young (i.e. before they are using a competitor). Teenagers take and post a lot of photos. If you get them to store them on Facebook you lock them in for life. Then you get value from them in 5-10 years. If Facebook only thinks short-term like you suggest they will die. And I think it's been proven Facebook has always thought long-term (e.g. prioritising UX and getting users over advertising for a long time after launch).

alsocasey 13y ago

The incentive is advertising revenue - teens are a very attractive ad market.