Over the past couple of months, we have written about Facebook and have touched on Facebook Fatigue as a concept based on some ancedotal evidence.

What is interesting is that we have been contacted by a Sunday Times journalist, Kathy Brewis who asked us the question:

"Hi, message for Caspar - would love to hear more thoughts from you on Facebook fatigue and any other negative aspects of 'social networking' for an article... Many thanks, Kath"

Firstly we are delighted to be contacted (she also contacted Jon directly through his blog) and asked for opinion, and will be even more delighted if we get published.

Secondly and more importantly, it raises some great points - my answers to Kathy were something along the lines of:

Facebook Fatigue

what keeps interest levels high and prevents fatigue is lots of fresh new interesting content; friends and lost friends connections are the big draw – applications are good but they don’t have the same bite or emotional connection as friends;

facebook fatigue kicks in once the majority of your friends are in – especially for Generation Y; the rise in levels of new content (friends) falls away;

I think the time for Generation X before fatigue sets in will be much longer; so many friends you have “touched” over the past 20 plus years you could keep connecting for a long while – it is likely to be steady stream of friends connecting rather than a flood;


Negative Aspects

Security concerns and privacy are the big ones;  users need to be aware of the dangers of having all their information on there – having your date of birth, home address and phone number does present risks, especially if you havent opted out of the the ability to have your profile indexed by the search engines.

I am reminded of when the Northern Rock crisis broke and someone on a forum/ blog (not a social networking site) left their name and home address, and then went on to comment that they had taken all their money out of the bank and put it under the mattress!!! Being reckless with personal details isnt just limited to social networking sites!

The other wider point which was brought home to me this week is how Facebook is now a part of people's lives and communicating through a digitial platform is second nature for some. The example I draw on is Births, Deaths and Marriages. I have personal examples of Facebook being used to broadcast all three events - if that is'nt a shift in behaviour I dont know what is (remember, social networking sites didnt exist 3 years ago!) 

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