Facebook is for grandparents: What we need in a next-gen social network
Sunday, 24 Nov '13 , 10:25pm
It’s time to move on. The feeling is becoming more and more significant with each passing day and it just keeps spreading.
It’s just not it any more… we want something new, exciting, which can take us places we’ve never been. We want to be surprised again. We want a new, better social network.
Facebook may say its user base is growing, but original members from the last decade appear to be leaving in droves. As more niche networking services and platforms enter the space, people are finding that not any one company is serving all of their networking needs. Our tastes and channels are becoming fragmented, and users are pushing back on accepted norms in the social media space.
This is inevitable. It’s a natural life cycle for any product; unless it somehow becomes a living organism with its own reproductive system and evolution, one will eventually wither and die. Facebook cannot evade this process – it regenerates with nuances, but is not reinventing itself.
Facebook today doesn’t resemble a thriving, living metropolis – it’s more of a friendly neighborhood bar. For that reason, FB will face its cruel destiny of simply fading away. Living in the same city as your parents is forgiven and acceptable; there is enough diversity and distance between everyone. But finding yourself sitting in the same bar as your mom and dad – that’s horrifying. When your father posts pictures of sunsets and breakfast on his wall you know it’s over.
The conclusion is undeniable; a new social network is needed. These are the things that will make it awesome and sustainable:
Read full article for details.
Phi Beta Iota: We completely agree. What the author does not address is the fact that only Open Source Everything (OSE) is infinitely affordable, inter-operable, and scalable. Also missing from all digital services and most particularly Microsoft and Google who ought to know better, is a structure for substance — for connecting dots to dots, dots to people, and people to people, in near real time. If Amazon, Avaaz, CrisisMapping, and WISER do not come together soon, then we anticipate a totally new start. The independent Internet being built by the BRICS will probably repeat the mistakes of the West, but perhaps not.
See Also:
Autonomous Internet Roadmap (P2P)
Saving the Americas with OSE/M4IS2
