Greatest Facebook Challenge: Maintaining Users in Fickle Social Space

By Karla Robinson
August 2, 2012

The social network that once seemed unstoppable has seen major challenges with its IPO and stock prices after its first earnings report. But, according to Fortune, Facebook’s biggest problem doesn’t have to do with investors or ads. It has to do with maintaining its 901 million active users.
“Social network users can be extremely fickle,” the article states. “They might love the service one minute and run away another,” as evidenced by failed sites such as Friendster, Myspace and Google’s Buzz.
Facebook acknowledged this threat in its S-1 Registration Statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “There is no guarantee that we will not experience a similar erosion of our active user base or engagement levels,” the company wrote.
Gartner analyst Brian Blau recently described the social space as “a hit-driven industry,” one in which missteps or lack of innovation can cause a rapid downward spiral.
“The issue for Facebook and all other social networks is that they have yet to land in the rarified position of ‘necessary,'” suggests Fortune.
“Google has become a necessary resource for finding Web sites. Facebook is just a place to hang out and communicate with friends and family. And despite Facebook’s best efforts to deliver games, applications, and extend its reach beyond its own domain, it hasn’t done anything yet that would totally safeguard it from possible obsolescence,” concludes the article.

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