subject: 3 Things Facebook Does Very Well [print this page] 1. Absorbing Functions1. Absorbing Functions
Facebook is a time suck. According to Nielsen data from April 2010, the average person spends six hours on Facebook per month.
Why? The reason is simple. Once you login to Facebook, News Feed from your amazing friends will draw your attention, trigger your curiosity and suck your time before you notice it.
Unlike other social platforms, Facebook is good at using attractive and lively features that spread messages across countries.
The News Feed, a controversial feature when initially released, is perhaps the most engaging of all, as it draws the user's attention to the flow of content from his or her friends. It eliminates the "what now?" moment that online users face when logging into any site. Even with just a handful of friends and a few "Liked" Pages, the average Facebook user is presented with a myriad of things to do, most of which have a feel-good quality about them.
The incorporation of games, applications and plug-ins has empowered Facebook to be the No.1 social hub in the entire world. People use their iPhone or iPad to look up news from friends. Every update on Facebook is friend-related, making the circulating information seemingly more reliable.
2.Agility
Facebook is fast to act, making it one of the most agile companies online, especially considering its massive size. This agility is most often seen in reactionary circumstances. It has become a somewhat predictable pattern for Facebook to release a huge update - whether it be a feature or change to the terms of service - that passionate users react to with vocal cries of outrage. Facebook then swiftly responds with blog posts from executives and a few changes that help to pacify members.
Most recently we saw this agility in Facebook's quick reaction to growing privacy concerns. In a matter of weeks, the company managed to drastically simplify site privacy settings that had become impossible to manage after years of modification. While the company's speedy privacy control overhaul may not have addressed the primary concern behind the upheaval, it was an aggressive change that did quiet much of the anti-Facebook rhetoric.
Like what happened recently regarding the privacy setting, Facebook swiftly came up with an easy-to-use table for users to control the information they share online. Though the simplified procedure has not solved the problem completely, the agitation for quitting Facebook was calmed down a lot because of it.
Facebook should not be praised only for its corrective measurement. Its new features, experiments, Page promotion services and multiple language selection contribute to its ever-growing popularity too. The speedy action of Facebook is certainly a marker that helps distinguish it from the falling behind Twitter.
3. Ambition
Facebook's ambition of opening the world can be dated back to its foundation in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University.
David Kirkpatrick reveals in his book, The Facebook Effect, that Mark Zuckerberg talked to his advertising partner, Tricia Black with Y2M, about his ambition when after the launch of "Thefacebook" in February.
The ultimate goal of Facebook has been heard repeatedly over the past few weeks now. That's because of Zuckerberg's active hosting of talks about his work hard.
News Feed, Platform, the "Everyone" option, "Like" button... these were introduced one after another. Well, Facebook's long-term goal explains it all. The News Feed made it easier to get hold of friends' updates, Platform made room for Facebook Developers, the "Everyone" option encouraged people to disclose information more to the public and the "Like" buttons let users gain recognition from their friends.
Clearly, Facebook has stayed true to its vision over the years, and while everyone may not agree with it, it's this consistency that's led to focused innovation on the feature front.
