On top
of the world: Is Facebook - like the big banks - too big to fail?
Why Facebook Will Not be Permitted to Die (DerTagesspiegel, Germany)
"Now with more than 1.2 billion
users and corresponding amounts of data, Facebook can now be referred to as only
banks have been: too big to fail. How would one go about closing down such a huge
network? What would happen to the massive amount of data that makes Facebook so
valuable? ... Yet a challenge remains: growth. Even Facebook cannot escape the
logic of the market. The Western market is getting ever-smaller for Facebook,
because it has virtually grazed it bare."
It has been said
repeatedly that Facebook has reached its zenith. But ten years after it's
founding, the platform turns out to be an educational network for the middle
class. Nevertheless, the question arises, where will further growth will come
from?
In 2006, Mark Zuckerberg
could have clicked the “Like” button and he would have been right as rain. Viacom
and Yahoo, two major media and Internet companies at the time, had offered billions
to acquire Facebook. He could have hit the button
and taken a long rest. Only retirement isn't
right for someone like Zuckerberg. He turned them
down, probably ensuring Facebook’s continued existence
- because Yahoo never really managed to maintain its power and develop further.
Last Tuesday, the social network turned ten years old,
and Zuckerberg’s previous steadfastness shows one
thing: one shouldn't write off Facebook too quickly.
The network may be losing prestige because of
criticism of its data protection policies, and there are the technical glitches,
but one thing above all is certain: it's adaptable. Perhaps Facebook is more a
learning network than a social one.
Facebook has seen some of its former competitors die
off - or is watching them die. MySpace was once number one,
and is now en route to oblivion. StudiVZ
began like Facebook, but never made the leap out of student dormitories. And Google Plus? The offensive by Facebook’s great rival, which
has similar vitality, has so far not really done damage to Facebook - which is in
part because Google prefers to seek large niches within specialised circles
rather than just the masses.
Facebook has continued to evolve and has cleverly
reinforced itself - as it did with the photo service Instagram.
When it comes to photos, music or news, it focuses on the integration of
services. It also relies on mobile solutions. Its own Smartphone app is certainly
no technical high-flyer, but the details of its implementation have not been critical
to Facebook’s business model. The very fact that
Facebook has made the leap into the mobile space has inspired renewed confidence.
With 1.2 billion users, Facebook is now too big to fail
Now with more than 1.2 billion users and corresponding
amounts of data, Facebook can now be referred to as only banks have been: too
big to fail. How would one go about closing down such a huge network? What
would happen to the massive amount of data that makes Facebook so valuable?
Of course, Facebook has its problems. Young people are
drawn to other services. However, as long as those in their mid-30s and older
continue to use the network, the fading number of young users is not a major
problem. It need not be the platform for nerds and young people. Rather, it is
the network for the large middle class. In the meantime, it is so strong that fierce
competitors can simply be swallowed up.
Yet a challenge remains: growth. Even Facebook cannot
escape the logic of the market. The Western market is getting ever-smaller for
Facebook, because it has virtually grazed it bare. The same is true for online
companies like Google or Amazon, which is why China, with its information and
consumer-oriented potential, is becoming the most desirable destination. But so
far, no one has managed to establish itself there, because in China, data
protection is not the great enemy, but limits on free expression.