Monday, November 28, 2011

Social Media Innovations at Facebook

Facebook already has over 800 million users... Should Facebook focus on execution to get more users, and get ever closer to the 1 billion mark, or rather think about new innovations that will make the experience even more engaging?

For instance, "More than 50% of Facebook active users log on to Facebook in any given day." Can Facebook motivate and inspire users to log on more frequently? Can the percentage of active users who log on go up to 75%? What would Facebook do to make this happen? What is a compelling reason for a user to log on to Facebook? Is it to share an update? Check what his / her friends are saying? Play a game? See notifications on prior updates? What drives users to log back in, and come back for more?

Another Facebook stat, "An Average user has 130 friends." - Some questions come to mind? How long does it take for an average user to get to 130 friends? Who are these friends? Can 130 friends become 260 friends? Is it even feasible? What behaviors are different for users who have over 260 friends versus users who have around 130 friends? Do they view friendship differently? How does the user feel on getting more friends? Is it great to connect to more friends, or less friends? On surface, it appears that the more friends a user connects with, more time the user will spend on Facebook, more engaged he or she will become!

And here's a growing trend that Facebook is seeing:
"More than 350 million active users currently access Facebook through their mobile devices." This one is huge! People are accessing websites, emails and now social networks through their cell phones, tablets and new mobile devices. This means people like to stay in touch and constant contact with their friends, even while they are traveling. How can Facebook capitalize on this trend? Would mobile operators and cell phone makers insert a Facebook button on every phone? Would every mobile application, game and website include a Facebook sharing widget so that the user can share almost anything on the fly on Facebook?

Ultimately, an engaged Facebook user is more likely to invite more of their friends, and get even more connected.

What will Facebook do? What new social media innovations will Facebook create to get even more users hooked on Facebook?

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