As a user of a product or service, you only like a change when it provides additional value to you. If the change is just brought forward to the user for the sake of it, nothing much happens to the company in terms of increase in sales or word of mouth. The only thing that happens is a wave of criticism or appreciation depending on the change that has been brought into notice.
The same happened with Facebook, when they changed the user’s homepages last week. Stats say that not even 10 percent of people who voted for the new design liked the change. The common reason which was cited was that it looked too much like Twitter. Remember, a brand loses its credibility when its uniqueness matches or gets its users confused with its competing brands. It is in verity shocking to know that the Social Media Branding experts on Facebook didn’t realize this basic concept, which even a common man can assume. Worse for the brand is when its loyal followers come out in the open protesting the action, rebel and join your competitor.
The reactions to the change would actually take Facebook on a backfoot and make them re-strategize their options and alternatives and develop a work around solution. The nasty comment of disgruntled users of Facebook was made as a tag cloud by ReadWriteWeb and displayed on their site as follows –
Facebook is definitely not immune to user criticisms. It has faced a plethora of critics very boldly and still made business. But, will it survive this time is the bigger question. Facebook once started the option of tagged photos as a method to generate spam which was again disliked by its users. The names of the tagged photos were deliberately used to curtain down the main cause and acted as a veil over a hidden cause, product or event which was promoted. The worse thing was Facebook promoted this idea of online advertising and thought that people can actually be fooled into this.
Of the most recent controversies the surrounded Facebook was when they announced a change in their “Terms of Service” which again caught the user stupefied. The sense of ownership was the logic that Facebook put forward this time and was not appreciated by its users again.
Phew!! Isn’t it actually commendable on Facebook’s part to still remain one of the best social networking sites inspite of all these management blunders? Okay, that was sarcasm.
But, probably with this news that Twitter has been the fastest community that grew last month (as in a report stated by ACNielsen); it is high time that Facebook get their act together. The Nielsen Wire reported that unique visitors to Twitter.com increased 1,382 percent year over year, from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009.
The Gurus in Branding have said time and again to think a million times before rebranding a product or service that is famous among its user group. The logic here is that the users would have grown so accustomed and familiar with the existing functions and applications that they would not appreciate a change.
For sure, Time will only have all the answers to Facebook’s next plan of action.
i think the techies at FB are a bunch of cynical fools and the current UI hasnt gone down with anybody i know – i mean how many times in 3 months does a so called popular networking site change its design / user interface – it is a total copy of twitter – to me the first fb was the real fb and only time will tell if this third redesign a last nail in the coffin for them !!!
Pooja, you are right.
But instead of calling them a bunch of cynical fools, I would better articulate it by saying that their strategies have not fallen in place. What they thought would work has not clicked.
I agree to a certain extent that the first Facebook was the most appreciated one.
Cheers.
confused & fickle .yeah 2 words dat come 2 mah mind.
i am an avid facebooker.but the change is totally unwelcome.
why on earth contort that is already working fine wid the crowd.
the Q is -facebook scared of twittr?
hmmmmmm, i personally dnt see twittr as a scare factor. i wud contest author’s thought abt facebook’s future. orkut is still a local carze…facebook is in real sense a global platform. i know people who are more sincere 2 thier facebook pen-pals than thier significant others….
once again, i din like the change, but that wnt make me a rebel;
m still a face-book-worm !
I appreciate your opinion.
I agree Orkut is a local craze. But, Twitter has become a scare for Facebook. Check the hyperlink again in the post.
Wish Facebook team the best. I am sure they need it