Two things have caught my attention in the last couple of days which I wanted to share:

The first is what we are calling Facebook Fatigue - whilst it might seem bizarre that we are flagging this up, it is a phenomenon we have started to observe and have a number of views on it. I first noted it from one of my younger sisters, Jess. Now 6 months ago, Jess was an avid facebook user - I am not sure how many times a day she was on the site, but I am guessing it was in double figures. Now she is on there about once a week. Why you might ask; well the reason I gather is that all her friends are on there now and she has connected her networks and the rate of growth of friends and connections has slowed up considerably. This reduction in "compelling content" ie her friends and friends of friends has matched her reduced interest.

I take the view that there are 3 compelling types of content that a social network needs in order to generate sustained interest and energy, they are:

1) Specific content focused on your topic of interest eg blogs, photos, articles on your interest area (lets say sailing which is my big thing);

2) Tools which help engage around your area - so for one site, I know, a Happiness Engine which measures your happiness quotient, or weather forecast tools/ tidal predictions (in my sailing world);

3) Profiles of people in your community.

The thing with what I view as the generic networks (the likes of Facebook) is that they have the profiles and they have tools (cleverly opened up to the Developer Community so we see the likes of Pirates and Ninja's), but the content and the focused niches seems to be less compelling than highly targetted niche communities. I know there are groups on Facebook, but to my mind they just arent compelling as a place where you can go and the whole network is dedicated to just your thing.

I think that there is a place for generic communities such as Facebook (albeit only a very small number), but that the real interest still remains in highly focused niches where elements of the 3 types of content are stirred into the community at the right time and the community is evolved and grown in a specific manner.

Would love to hear any other views on this and whether you buy the concept of Facebook Fatigue and the reasons for it.

On a different note, a great article in the FT yesterday titled "You cant stop them talking" which outlines how businesses must learn to benefit rather than suffer from social networking tools. One of the points made is that the danger for businesses is that if they don't participate, they lose control of being part of the conversation. We couldn't agree more; the web being used for open conversations and dialogue is here to stay; its not something that can be ignored and as we see with the organisations that we talk to, it's the smart ones who get it, want to innovate and engage with the voices on the web.

Comments

There are currently 5 comments about this blog.

Edward Charvet, 10 months ago

Love the fact that our little poll on Facebook fatigue is running at 42% wondering exactly what it is...may I refer you to Caspar's earlier comments.

Michael Wright, 10 months ago

This isn't a plug, but I personally think that Linkedin have got the formula pretty spot-on in terms of keeping people engaged through a networked community. I have been an avid user for more than three years now, and it's been a satisfying daily experience. Better still, it makes money, isn't intrusive and is an easy forum for us to push our online presence. Michael Idealpeople

Caspar Craven, 10 months ago

It's a great point Jon - I think in web world there is a natural inclination to base value on continued volume, hype and growth rather than looking at the underlying picture. I used to view the networks I built as "portable online address books" - it's a long term value thing of having aggregation in one place.

Jon Mell, 10 months ago

If Facebook helps you get re-acquainted with people you end up actually meeting then that is a good thing. I have always positioned sites like Facebook as complementing rather than replacing 'traditional' ways of communicating/socialising. The frequency of using Facebook may go down but the value may go up.

Chris Anderton, 10 months ago

I guess part of the initial excitement of Facebook is building up your network - i'd imagine that for many then they get a buzz out of looking up old friends they haven't met for ages or have lost contact with. Then, after adding them there is the buzz of getting re-acquainted. Once all that buzz is gone - where's the next fix gonna come from? I guess that's when the Fatigue sets in, or maybe it's a Facebook come-down..

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