In case you missed it – Facebook’s making a TON of money.
All your pictures of drunken nights out have turned into a dollar bills for the world’s biggest social network. Read it and weep – the business made a whopping $1.5bn of profit in the last quarter alone.
After hearing the news, the financial markets went into wild excitement and Facebook’s share price surged to record highs. User numbers are up. Time spent on Facebook is up. Brands are queuing to plough their money into ads. No matter how you look at it – Facebook is winning.
You’re not alone
On my way into CNN’s studios to speak about Facebook’s results with Nina dos Santos, it hit me. Almost everybody uses Facebook, but when did it become something we feel we have to do and not something we enjoy?
When did we stop ‘liking’ Facebook?
I’ve made no secret of my feelings towards social media. It can be brilliant– all those brilliant connections made– and yet so mind-numbingly awful as well. (I’m looking you – person who posts those “inspirational” quotes).
On my way to the set at CNN, I took an unscientific straw poll. “Of course I use it” explained the first producer I spoke to.
“But I don’t love it”.
“I’m sick of it” said the makeup artist. “I don’t want to live my life in public any more, I’d rather hear from the friends I really care about in person”.
I’ve suspected this for a while now. For people like you and me, Facebook’s lost its shine.
It’s a victim of its own success – from a place to hang out with your coolest friends it’s ballooned into a mess of work, old friends and distant relatives who are better out of sight and out of mind. No wonder all the millennials are flocking to Instagram.
Not going away any time soon
But let’s be realistic here, the financial markets are right to be excited and Facebook isn’t going to disappear any time soon. Zuckerberg is undoubtedly one of the best people in the industry – his decisions to snap up Instagram and WhatsApp were frankly, in hindsight, genius.
But we’ve been here before. Remember MySpace? Or Bebo?
Social networks are only as valuable as the people who use them. And when people stop loving your product, whether you’re profitable or not, it’s time to start asking the hard questions.
For more unicorns, cats and cultural imperialism, read Alex’s Agenda.
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