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| Social Networking Site : Facebook.com |
It has been a long time since Facebook has been around on the Internet and for people who have been on the Internet for long know that nothing remains too long a buzz here, except for some great utilities like Google.
We have seen Orkut make the buzz on such a large scale before but it also came to an end. Well, the site exists even today but there is no reference of it in terms of social media today. However, there is very little chance that Google might combine Google+ and Orkut in one website with all the privacy settings of Google+ and not those profile views and stuff that we saw on Orkut.
But the chance of that happening is just 1 in a
Google Buzz was a mini social networking link in Gmail and it worked quite well for some time but it ended because everybody stopped checking Gmail that often and that was because Facebook started sending too many emails. True Story.
Now, getting back to the topic. Facebook has seen a decline of its users as well as a decline in the amount of time that the users are now spending on Facebook than they did before.
But, before we go any further, let's talk about why has this "tragedy" happened to Facebook?
- Too Many App/Game/Event Requests : Facebook in its earlier days of rising was a clean platform with not much people and there were games but there was a different way of handling the requests and the notifications so it didn't hurt people that much. And of course, it was something new so everything just seemed to be a part of it. There have been FB sensations like Farmville, Mafia Wars, Social Quiz, etc. etc. that serve as a good example. But later on these things got on the nerves of people when people got bored of it and others were sending requests and all sorts of gifts to other people. Along with this, people thought that Facebook was some party invitation website. People started getting random party and event invitations even from people that they didn't know about.
- Not understanding the "Friend Request" System : This might be something that might have not been given so much thought but it is something that I have found to be true in many cases and by "many" I don't mean a couple of 'em but with hundreds of people. In this case what happens is that people accept Friend Requests from people they don't know and then those people start to annoy them with unnecessary comments, messages, requests, etc. In this case both fall into the category of fools. The person who accepts a request doesn't know that you should only accept friend requests from people who you know in real life and the person who sent it may have his own reasons( hot chick ) but to put it in one form it can be said the he/she didn't know that who should we send a friend request to. This led to many people cursing the social networking site when they should have cursed themselves. And the person too.
- Stupid Ads, Fake Likes, Promoted Posts/Pages : This is something that most of the people don't know about and are annoyed by it without even knowing that they are annoyed. No, I've not gone berserk. That is a real thing. OK, Let me explain. Recently Facebook, in order to earn more money, has optimized and improved its ad system. What they don't know is that they actually haven't improved it but have made the situation even worse. There are these, so called, "Promoted Posts". What these do is that they replace posts on your news feed and add another post, which you may or may not like, in place of it. Like, that is the most disgusting ever idea I have seen. I have some knowledge about businesses and there is not a rule or advice that says that you should totally go off the motto of your brand/company/whatever in order to promote something and get money for it. What Promoted Posts do is that they give more importance to an ad than a post by your friend. What's the point of using Facebook when we're using it for something that it wasn't meant for? The same is the story with Pages that want their content to go worldwide. They pay Facebook in order to gain more popularity by stealing your news feed. Mostly these are funny pages. All this said, there are paid people made to like stuff through fake accounts on Facebook. Bet you didn't know that.
- 1 Like = 1 Salute/Prayer/Slap/Kick/Blessing/Billion Dollars : There are all sorts of people, everywhere. That's right grammar Nazis. There was a comma there.
There is no place on earth that hasn't got all sorts of people. Be it, India, US, Canada, Australia, UK or China. No, not China. China is an all twin country. Just kidding. Since all these places have all sorts of people and stupid people are also "people", then Facebook is no exception. People of all sorts are there on Facebook. Some are so stupid to create a post with a picture that says some emotional or prestigious or religious stuff and then they ask people to like it and what's even more stupid is the people who like this sort of stuff. Suppose you like a page that has something that you like and they also post these sort of things. What would you do? Well, some leave Facebook for good.
- Lack of Privacy : While Facebook touts a lot about it's total privacy if you want it, not many people are aware of what the word "privacy' itself means. It means to keep oneself and one's information secluded from unwanted attention. People apply the privacy settings given by Facebook to its users most of the time but don't know who to add as a friend and who to not. This leads to people just sitting around in their friends list who they haven't talked to even once in their lifetime and that includes the time they have spent on Facebook too. These people can be stalkers, burglars, robbers, thieves, etc. Seems unreal, right? Let me just explain that to you. This is a real life story of a family who went on a trip to Hawaii. There was a family in Washington who planned a trip to Hawaii and one of the members of the family posted a status about their plans on Facebook. Sure the status got many likes, because Hawaii, but what they didn't realize was that someone in their own friend list saw that and made plans about robbing their home while they were away.
While the family was away posting pictures and doing stuff. Their house got robbed and there was not much that was left. Even a lot of clothing was stolen. These incidents got spread to a lot of people and led them to quitting Facebook.
- People's realisation of other messaging services : When Facebook initially came out, it was unique. People thought that there was nothing else like Facebook. For the most part that was because it had some features that were unique, but the whole concept of Facebook wasn't unique. Slowly, as Facebook grew older, people realised that there were other messaging platforms too. Whatsapp, WeChat, Line messenger, Snapchat, etc. etc.
These platforms were much more private and some had the same features as of Facebook. Like Line, it had a timeline, a like thing, a comment thing, better mobile support, better customization options, better messaging interface, better smileys and stickers, it also had a free calling facility. It was only after LINE that Facebook introduced their messenger app with better smileys and stickers and integrated SMS in their app. None that I know of use that feature. This was a major reason of people flying away from Facebook.
- Parents & Teachers on Facebook : There was a time when it was that there were only teens and youngsters on Facebook. But when the word Facebook started getting around too much, the parents and teachers of these teens also wanted to be there. Some were just there to monitor their children and this led to teenagers fleeing away from Facebook. Most of these elder people are new to Facebook and don't know how to use Facebook properly and can comment anything anywhere. These things irritated the teens and kids and they had no chance but to leave Facebook or look for an alternative because they obviously can't un-friend their parents or block them.
- And all those other stuff : While I have covered the major reasons here, there are a lot of them that can't be talked about in much detail here. The Duck-face and bending profile pictures, the profile pictures with guns, pictures with gangster stuff, the people asking for likes and comments, the Facebook interface changes, the Love scandals, the weird status updates, the gym pics, the same check ins everyday, over-sharing everything about your life, writing Facebook language( dis is wut it luks lyk broda ) etc. Are all reasons that led to people fleeing Facebook and looking for alternatives.
All these reasons are enough to suggest that the days of Facebook are now over. Mark has earned enough money to live his life in peace and open a foundation or something.
It's time for you to leave Facebook before someone comes to you asking for contact information and if you tell them about your Facebook they'll be like, "Oh, so you're still using that?" .
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