The Social Networking Fad is Over
A recent HitWise report reveals that overall market share of social networking sites has decreased by 20% over the last 12 months. An article at BizReport.com has cited the report by Hitwise (a visitor metrics company) and used the headline ‘Is Social Networking Dead or Dying?’. I can’t find the original point of reference on the Hitwise site, but the BizReport.com article states that the number of visits to social networking sites has fallen. It then goes on to point out that this might actually be because people are spending more time on their favourite site rather than jumping to and from a bunch of them (which would rack up the number of visits from unique users, but isn’t a true indication of popularity).
It’s a beat-up, but if you step back from the hyperbole and gaze at the bigger picture, it could well be that the excitement has died down and social networking has hit its high-water mark. Could it be that everyone in the western world who wants to have a MySpace or Facebook account now does and that those that do are using them less? Are the steep growth curves of the social media giants about to even out?
My gut instict is yes.
What does this mean?
A: The fad is over.
People who signed up to Facebook and MySpace and Twitter and LinedIn have played around furiously for a while, but like hoola-hoops, roller skates, slinkys, Pokemon, yo-yos, slap bands, Alf and The Olsen Twins, they’re now starting to lose interest. I don’t think they’ll relegate social networking to the bottom of the toy-box just yet, but I think you’ll definitely see less ferventness, which is exactly what that HitWise report is showing.
If I owned Facebook, I’d be selling out now. Watch for an announcement in the next few months, before the capitalists realise there ain’t as much money in it as everyone thought. And don’t even get me started on fucking Twitter.
Tags: Social Media
Nick
August 1st, 2008 at 12:42 pm
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I often wonder how Hitwise get their outlandish statistics. Honestly, the amount of times someone visits Facebook may have decreased by the fact most people leave it on and don’t close, open, close open. Using Facebook as an example by the introduction of their messenger system. Most people leave their Facebook browser window open longer or never close it at all, therefore skewing the statistics gathered by so called top of the line statistics companies like Hitwise.