# Is it the beginning of the end for Facebook?



## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

I sit back and watch as the trends change for the 
online market and it looks more and more like 
Facebook is now becoming what Myspace was
about a year before Myspace died a tragic death.

The problem for those of us that are using it as a
marketing tool is that we need to stay one step
ahead of the trend and find out what everyone is
saying and where the new oasis is for our current
and potential clients.

I am reading more and more comments on Twitter
about how people hate the new version of Facebook
and how it is driving them away.

It seems that every time they get a good thing
going like a simple easy to use format like the
original Facebook they have to grab the carpet
and flip everyone off balance and add their
advertising and multi-Pain-in-th-arzz applications.


So...

what should you be looking at for your next step
in online marketing and what are your thoughts
on the changes on Facebook?


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

This post was meant to be in the marketing section.

Hopefully it can by moved.


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## Hegemone (Oct 18, 2011)

Start building a google + presence.


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## NeonTees (Apr 25, 2010)

Personally, I think Facebook is still growing, but will not be around forever. Eventually something will replace it. How soon is the billion dollar question...


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## Hegemone (Oct 18, 2011)

NeonTees said:


> Personally, I think Facebook is still growing, but will not be around forever. Eventually something will replace it. How soon is the billion dollar question...


I give it max 4-5 years. It's very clear that mark is starting to farm cash from the site at a cost of alienating his loyalists. Not to mention the older crowd is starting to adopt it which means the hipsters are heading out and rest of the youth will follow. Hence the popularity of pinterest, +, instagram, and some other ones google will start absorbing. 

My two cents. Toss them in a well an make a wish.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> what should you be looking at for your next step
> in online marketing and what are your thoughts
> on the changes on Facebook?


I think Facebook isn't going anywhere any time soon. 

Myspace wasn't even great when it was great 

But Facebook on the other hand has unheard of traction. It's estimated that 1 in 8 people *in the world* are on Facebook. That's just something you can't ignore.

Even though people get upset with changes, the non-vocal majority isn't fleeing Facebook en masse. 

It's still an effective place for marketing and keeping in touch with customers.

Google+ doesn't have the "middle America" kind of traction that Facebook/Twitter does. 

Facebook is still on the rise in my opinion, and I'd say the next 5 years or so will still be worthwhile years to use Facebook (and Twitter) to keep in touch with customers and market your business (where appropriate).


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

I do like Facebook and the T-shirt giveaway via tagging
idea here is an amazing traffic generator and
the statistics prove it on our page.

The problem is that Facebook is now slowly sneaking
in more and more add ons just in the last two weeks
and people are really noticing it and are getting
Myspace flashbacks.

We had over 4000 friends on Myspace in it's day and
almost every one of those contacts haven't even
checkid in and very few even log into it.

Our friends on Twitter don't like having to go to
FB and many left to get a cleaner and easier 
connection using just their smartphones.

Our customers HATE having all these adds showing
up on the side of the page and FB is nailing them
with new updates and changes on a weekly basis.

What we should be looking for is what is coming around
the corner to grab the attention of our customers.

Facebook is working... for now...


If anyone has any ideas on a T-shirt giveaway contest on Twitter
I would love to hear how you are operating it and deciding who wins etc..


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## NeonTees (Apr 25, 2010)

Austin300 said:


> If anyone has any ideas on a T-shirt giveaway contest on Twitter
> I would love to hear how you are operating it and deciding who wins etc..


Check out Wildfire - Social Media Marketing Software by Wildfire Interactive, Inc. We used them for some contests and it worked pretty well. They have some neat stuff going on.


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

even when myspace was still active, it was still always for kids and perverts (particularly towards the end), and FB was more adult oriented. so, that's not a consideration. 

it's the games that keep ppl into FB. FB has changed before, it'll change again, and every social site will likely do the same thing. once zynga's contract expires, things will get interesting, imo. ppl not into games may check out google+, especially in time, but it's going to take the average FB years to rebuild their game stats and a long, long time to get everyone they really keep in contact with on FB into a new network.

we'll all sign up for the new thing eventually, probably won't check into it very often at first, not until the new site offers something we can't pass up, the old site starts to be a real drag, and more and more people convert. that'll take years barring some out of left field happenstance. and yet the older people will still stick to FB because who wants to be around a bunch of whiny kids all day?


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

Speaking of the Facebook T-shirt giveaway contest...


I think sooner or later that Facebook will realize
that the "tagging" entry that we use for the
T-shirt giveway will be lucrative for them as well.

If you don't know how it works then you start
a contest on Facebook and people "TAG" your
picture on your page to enter. This causes the photo
of your shirt / design to show up on in the profile
of every person who tags it thus giving you 
an amazing amount of free advertising and
generates views and traffic to your FB page.

How could they stop this? Just turn off the option
to TAG a photo for a FB page that is operating
as a business account.


How long do you think Facebook will allow
this to go on if they see the dollar signs ?

They are after all trying to sell you advertising
right and left as a Facebook page set up for
a business and this may be something to think
about for the future.

Hopefully they will leave this great advertising option 
alone. It works great for the small business and
wouldn't be feasable for a large entity due to the
amount of people attemting to tag a photo.


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## Flagrant-T (Nov 11, 2009)

Those Facebook ads have never really bothered me. I almost don't see them anymore, but the ones I do see, I've clicked on more than anyother website. I don't think I've ever clicked on an ad in ESPN.com/Google/yahoo/etc etc. The fact that the ads are targeted, and usually from smaller companies, seems to spark my interest.

As far as running ads with them, we've done it a few times when I've set up a BigCartel store for a specific event/topic. They pay per click is great in that you can set a budget and only pay if the ad works to get people over to where you want. The fact that I can target specific types of customers has led to some pretty high conversion rates. The last one I did was just a small test but I had about a 10% sales rate to people who clicked in. I've never been anywhere near this successful with any other form of advertising (small sample size though, only about 300 clicks).

Interesting topic though,
Thanks,
Nick


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## PirateJohn (Dec 10, 2011)

One thing Facebook has that Twitter does not is that purchasing ads for Facebook is well within the budget of even the smallest business. You can buy a click for a quarter. When I looked into Twitter's advertising costs, it STARTED at $5,000.


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## 321go (Aug 13, 2011)

Austin300 said:


> Speaking of the Facebook T-shirt giveaway contest...
> 
> 
> I think sooner or later that Facebook will realize
> ...


So how do you pick a winner? i dont understand how it is a competition.. :/


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

It's not a competition and a fish bowl can be used
with the names put in it. That part is up to you and
some even use an online source to pick the winner.

It's your giveaway and you make the rules and they
don't have to work like everyone elses.

The point of the giveaway is to generate more
traffic to your site and by tagging the photo
it places that flagged shirt photo on each
persons page.

It's a giveaway.. Nothing too complicated about it.

This thread is a great source of information on how
people are using Facebook for shirt giveaways.

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/t-shirt-marketing/t143871.html







/


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## 321go (Aug 13, 2011)

wow, thanks alot! this is gonna be a massive help to me


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## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

I don't think Facebook is going anywhere anytime soon. There are always people who cry that the sky as falling as soon as something changes or something new is on the horizon. Google+ may turn into something, but it has to get more mainstream. Right now Facebook is the place to be, but that will change over time. Either Google+ will get more popular, or something that hasn't even been thought of yet will take its place. 

I think the danger is in sounding the death knell too soon. Facebook isn't on its last legs yet, and it certainly hasn't gone the way of MySpace. It's still a viable advertising and networking option.


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## 321go (Aug 13, 2011)

theres a massive difference between myspace and facebook, facebook is something like no other. facebook is addictive, nobody used their phone to check myspace every 10 minutes, nobody spent hours upon hours trawling though their friends profiles like they do with facebook. Tbh i dont think facebook is ever going to fail. it may get annoying with ads and whatnot, but nobody is ever going to stop using it, unless Mark says so


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

EnMartian said:


> I don't think Facebook is going anywhere anytime soon. There are always people who cry that the sky as falling as soon as something changes or something new is on the horizon. Google+ may turn into something, but it has to get more mainstream. Right now Facebook is the place to be, but that will change over time. Either Google+ will get more popular, or something that hasn't even been thought of yet will take its place.
> 
> I think the danger is in sounding the death knell too soon. Facebook isn't on its last legs yet, and it certainly hasn't gone the way of MySpace. It's still a viable advertising and networking option.


 
I don't really think of it as sounding a premature death of FB.

I sat down with the owner of one of the largest
Japanese companies years ago for dinner and we
talked about the difference in the way the Japanese
think about marketing and business.

One of the main things that stuck in my head till
this day is that they were looking 10 years to the
future at all times while most companies only had
their eye on the next two years at most.

I think FB is fine for now but I am always looking
to the future. It only makes sense to keep your
eye on what may become the new trend if only
to preserve your company / user name on those
sites for future use.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> If anyone has any ideas on a T-shirt giveaway contest on Twitter
> I would love to hear how you are operating it and deciding who wins etc.


I've started using Rafflecopter for Facebook and Twitter giveaways (helps if you have a blog or somewhere else to embed the contest widget). But it works great for collecting entries and pulling random winners: Rafflecopter - Easily Create Blog Giveaways & Sweepstakes For Free


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## kriscad (Dec 18, 2006)

Hegemone said:


> Start building a google + presence.



Their privacy issues are just as bad as FB.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

PS. Rafflecopter is what I'm using for our Kindle Fire giveaway here: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/announcements-site-updates/t172407.html


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## ptahhotep (Dec 1, 2011)

Rodney said:


> I think Facebook isn't going anywhere any time soon.
> 
> Myspace wasn't even great when it was great
> 
> ...


True that! With that being said, is it possible to use Printmojo with Facebook's merchant store options? Like PM can handle checkout?

Thanks.


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

And just when you thought FB was going to be simple and easy..


I know they have been talking about this but
get ready for the new face of Facebook.



*Facebook Timeline: 9 things you need to know*

*By Mark W. Smith, Detroit Free Press*

Updated 20h 31m ago 


Facebook's long-delayed massive overhaul to user profiles, dubbed Timeline, is finally available for all of the social networks more than 800 million users worldwide. 

Paul Sakuma, AP
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg talks about Timeline during the f8 conference in San Francisco.




Timeline, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg first showed off in September, is a complete rethinking off a user's profile page. It attempts to use the data already inside Facebook as a sort of digital scrapbook.


Facebook users can now easily scroll back to previous years and see what they were saying and what they were doing.

*MORE: Facebook Timeline rolls out worldwide*
For some, this will be a nostalgic trip through a social network that has captured much of who we are. For others, it will be a bit terrifying to see posts from the early days of Facebook, when it was limited to college students who often shared way too much.
Here's a look at nine things to know about the new Facebook.


*There's a seven-day review period.* Once upgraded, Facebook users will be able to work through their Timeline and get things ready before it goes public. During the seven-day review period, the Facebook user will be able to publish it at any time. If he or she chooses to wait, it will automatically go live after the week is up.


*Your cover photo is your chance to make a splash.* The most striking feature at the top of the new Facebook profile is the cover photo, which stretches across the page's width. The Facebook user's profile photo, which is seen across the site, is now just a small square. Most are using this opportunity to make the profile photo a simple face shot and have used the cover photo to show something more personal, like a pet or favorite vacation spot.


*No new information is being shared.* Yes, Timeline is bringing back a bunch of old posts. But these posts have long been viewable on Facebook. Before, a friend would have had to go to a profile and click again and again for more posts, but would eventually travel back in time.



*Your privacy settings on old posts will remain.* A post shared four years ago that was set to be viewable to just friends will continue to be viewable to just friends. The only concern here lies in how a user's definition of friend has changed. A photo or status update that in college that was OK for friends might not be OK for friends now, which might include coworkers.



*Posts can be expanded.* Timeline already tries to guess which of your posts will be the most interesting and it makes those viewable. It can try and guess here by how many likes or comments a post has received. If there is a post that should be expanded and is not -- like a new job or college graduation -- you can expand it.



*The Activity Log is the best place to edit a Timeline.* Facebook has built a very helpful new page called the Activity Log, which can be accessed from a profile page, that shows every single piece of content Facebook has from a user. Each item can be deleted or tweaked from this page.




*For your eyes only.* If there is a post in your Timeline that you don't want to zap completely from Facebook, but don't want anyone to see, you can change the post's visibility to "Only Me."



*Users can add other life events.* Facebook is hoping that users flesh out their Timeline with information from B.F. (Before Facebook), too. Anything added to the Timeline can now be given a date. So, if a user uploads an old photo from summer camp, he or she can set the date to June 1995 so that it appears chronologically in the Timeline.



*There's no sense in holding out.* Facebook Timeline will eventually go live for everyone on Facebook, whether or not the user has taken the time to prune and optimize the Timeline view. It's best to be proactive and make sure what people will see is what should be seen.


Related Videos


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

A video explanation what is coming.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMDSzYZxh6I[/media]







.


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Etc7n5NCcI[/media]


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

If you want to see what the NEW facebook page
looks like before they make everyone go to it.

Here is a FB page that already went to it.


James Drury-The Virginian | Facebook





.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

The new Facebook layout has been out for a while now. I think I've had the new timeline for about a month or so.

I dig the new look...much more visual and easy to see photos and big updates.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

ptahhotep said:


> True that! With that being said, is it possible to use Printmojo with Facebook's merchant store options? Like PM can handle checkout?
> 
> Thanks.


@ptahhotep I'm not sure what Facebook's merchant store options you're referring to, but you'd need to start a new thread about this separate PrintMojo question or contact PrintMojo directly about that from their site.


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

too, these networks don't pop up overnight. without researching it, i'm guessing google dumped umpteen millions of dollars and tons and tons of time into their social network, and it's still a massive gamble even with idiots like the zynga owner in the facebook mix. (i say he's an idiot because of his recent shellacking in the stock market, not to mention he's just a shystery thief to begin with.) i venture to say the odds of a little underfunded social network popping up out of the blue and toppling FB is... remote. 

like it or not, FB isn't going anywhere anytime soon. even on its last legs, when that eventuality does come to pass, it may take years for it to actually dwindle into a myspace graveyard. valued at $100 billion, as i recall, i don't think the vultures are circling or any fat ladies are lubing up their throats for a swan song just yet....


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## Austin300 (May 24, 2009)

From Facebook today.


*"Coming Soon: New Facebook Pages*
*On March 30, 2012, all Facebook Pages will get a new design."*





*"On March 30, 2012 your Page will automatically get the new design"*


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## kriscad (Dec 18, 2006)

You can view the new design. Its not that big of a change.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

I just updated the TSF Facebook page to the new look. It looks just like the new personal profiles with the Facebook timeline with a big cover photo on top. I actually like that look better.


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