Responding to Pop Culture: Facebook

Responding to Pop Culture: Facebook

Facebook has had a tremendous global effect in terms of how people share information about themselves, their careers and their lives online. Its global reach transcends geographical boundaries, changing the way people interact socially, professionally and politically. The degree to which Facebook has become a part of the social, economical and political landscape is perhaps best represented by the fact that the service recently exceeded five-hundred million global subscribers. This number is especially impressive when you consider this number accounts for an estimated one third of the total number of global internet users. Many suggest the sheer size of Facebook’s subscriber base means they’re here to stay, while others believe it could be one of the primary factors that ultimately contributes to the company’s demise. 

While you may struggle to think of a reason why a subscriber base this large would be a bad thing. Consider for a moment, the fact that Facebook is responsible for managing and safeguarding a global database filled with the personal information of over five hundred million individuals from around the world. This fact has led many governments to question if and how this information is being safeguarded. Just who does have access to Facebook’s database and under what circumstances, if any, is access to Facebook’s database granted? Foreign governments in particular have begun voicing concerns over their inability to control what information their citizens are allowed to share and view on their Facebook pages. Some governments have gone as far as to suggest that Facebook represents a major threat to their national security. While foreign countries may be the most vocal in their opposition to the unfiltered sharing Facebook promotes, they are not alone in this regard. In fact, just recently representatives from the likes of Facebook, Google and Twitter were called to testify in separate hearings before the United States House of Representatives and the Senate on their internal policies and handling of matters relating to online consumer privacy. As a result of these hearings, both the House and the Senate have already drafted several bills. These bills aim at regulating companies and online services responsible for managing and safeguarding online consumer data. However, despite the overwhelming challenge that the threat of regulatory pushback represents to Facebook, it is not its only growing concern. 

Around the world, developers are working diligently to change the shape of social networking all together. Two projects currently in development that look especially promising are the Dispora project and of course, Google’s rumored GO network. Both of these projects have tremendous resources in terms of media and financial support making them serious contenders to the social networking giant Facebook. The smaller of the two projects is an open source alternative to Facebook called Dispora. Unlike Facebook, which is built on a centralized model of sharing, the focus of Dispora aims at decentralizing the web. Simply put, Dispora allows users to reclaim control of their information by taking a self-hosted, file sharing approach to social networking. This model is particularly attractive to those businesses and individuals looking for enhanced security or direct control over the information they choose to make public. The second of the two noteworthy projects and perhaps Facebook’s greatest threat yet, comes in the form of Google’s rumored GO network. Google sources continue to circulate rumors of a highly classified project currently in development at Google Labs. Sources have suggested that Google is well underway at developing the next big thing in the social networking revolution. Those familiar with the project are saying it’s everything you wish Facebook could be. The rumored project is supposedly being written entirely in Google’s very own programming language aptly named GO. It would be reasonable to assume this is where the projects rumored name of GO network has come from as well. Unfortunately, due to the fact that those familiar with the project remain tight lipped, very little is known about this new service or any of its alleged features. Although, considering Google’s track record and resources, it is safe to assume that any product or service they launch is bound to be a competitor in its respective market.

In the end, whether it’s government regulations or competing technologies, it is my prediction that Facebook’s market share will fall to a level that is below 25% of its existing market share over the next five years.