With the uproar recently concerning the new features that were added to its Web site, Facebook has decided to delay its expansion that was scheduled to begin today, evidently to let things settle down for a little while.
Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that all of this change is needed so that Facebook can keep track of its current members once they have graduated from college. It's not really the users he's talking about, as much as it is the new friends that the users make after their graduation, that aren't usually allowed to join the site.
Zuckerberg, quoted in the NY Times said, “We have two years of alums already, and more than one-third of the people using the site are not in college any more, if we make it so other young people can use the site, it strengthens the experience for everybody.”
The plan is to create networks in 500 new regions, with no restrictions on membership.
This doesn't seem to be a good move to me. With the specific demographic and exclusive nature of the site, it offers something very unique to its users. With the offer for anyone to join, how is it differentiated from anyone else now?
It seems to me that it would have been much better for Zuckerberg to go deeper in his community, rather than stretching out to everybody.
Do you think this is a big mistake?
I think it is a big mistake and will open the facebook up to competitors. I just read a good article written by Pete Cahsmore over at Mashable.com about a new facebook competitor that he calls an Excellent Facebook Alternative...The new site is called Uspot.com - Check out Mashable.com more on this.. http://mashable.com/2006/09/12/uspot-excellent-facebook-alternative/
Posted by: Adam | September 13, 2006 1:35 PM | Permalink to Comment