Is Facebook Losing Its Cool Factor?
Facebook has increased its user base from 58 million to 1 billion over the past five years. But in a public statement from former Facebook Director of Product, Blake Ross, it looks like Facebook is failing to attract younger users. In the Facebook post, Ross stated: "I'm leaving because a Forbes writer asked his son's best friend Todd if Facebook was still cool and the friend said no, and plus none of HIS friends think so either."
Even Facebook has noticed the exodus of young users. In the 2012 Annual Report, Facebook stated, "we believe that some of our users, particularly our younger users, are aware of and actively engaging with other products and services...in the event that our users increasingly engage with other products and services, we may experience a decline in user engagement and our business could be harmed."
Social media sites no longer take years to gain traction with users, sites often experience substantial growth in just a few short months. Teens play a large role in the success of new sites. They are quick to try new things and teens are known for setting trends and defining what's "cool."
So, what's going to be the next "cool" social media site? I am by no means a teen, but as a millennial and early adopter of social media sites, here are my top 3 best bets:
- Pheed - launched in 2012, the platform "enables users to create, inspire and share texts, photos, videos, audio tracks, voice-notes and live broadcasts." The site has positioned itself as a way to "express yourself" and according to trendsetters, if you haven't heard of Pheed, you're behind the times.
- Medium - a social experience "based on the belief that the sharing of ideas and experiences is what moves humanity forward." The site, developed by the founders of Blogger and Twitter, has been coined as a combination of the best of all social networks.
- Thumb - a crowdsourcing mobile app facilitates the sharing of personal opinions. Thumb has been described as highly addicting and user engagement levels have surpassed those of Tumblr and Pinterest. The average user spends 4 hours on the app each month. Last year, Thumb reported 1.2 million registered users.
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