A wise mentor years ago once told me that "in business, things are never as good or as bad as they may seem at the time."
That pretty much sums up my feelings about Facebook right now.
There is plenty of terrible news to go around. The IPO was botched by Nasdaq, the underwriters, investment banks, Mark Zuckerberg, and/or Facebook itself.
Facebook is only worth $61b (at the time I'm writing this post), and has lost 24% of its value after going public at $38/share. Its market capitalization is down from $100b on SharesPost in January to $61b now.
General Motors is pulling out of Facebook advertising altogether, and taking $10m+ in annual revenue with them.
The mobile threat is "devastating" Facebook, and it's a platform that completely confounds the company.
Pundits are talking about how their kids don't use Facebook anymore — and thus, Facebook is just today's walled garden with little/no chance to succeed long-term.
And then I saw Tuesday on CNBC that Zuck is on his honeymoon, enjoying McDonald's of all things with his wife… with not a care in the world.
If Facebook were in a bubble earlier this year, Facebook FUD is in a bubble today.
But again, things are never as good or as bad as they seem.
Facebook was never assured world domination. Facebook, like everyone else, has to work hard to stay relevant and be socially acceptable despite its continued growth. And it was going to reach inevitable critical mass, sooner or later.
Similarly, today Facebook is also not on the way out either. Sure, I'll grant you that some people are experiencing fatigue with the service. But all the while, Facebook has been developing itself as critical infrastructure for the web. Its social plug-ins are a strategically critical asset that extends Facebook's reach… and it's relevance… well beyond the core initial use cases that brought it into the mainstream.
Keep a level head about Facebook. Things are never as good or as bad as they seem. Facebook iscritical social infrastructure without a real rival in today's three screen world (computer, tablet, mobile). And that's worth your continued attention and marketing investment.
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.