A Visual Story That Explains Why Engagement on Facebook Should Drop

Posted on January 4, 2013 by David Cohen

By no means will this image electrify you. I have no idea how to use Illustrator, so I used Jing to create a story out of this Facebook screenshot. I wanted to post this image to tell the story about why I can't engage on Facebook any longer, and why I think engagement on Facebook could likely drop in the future:

facebook-engagement-drop-davidmcohen

Facebook doesn't make much sense and doesn't seem to be evolving into a platform that will bring the world closer together. Facebook drives people apart.

When other social channels get more creative and innovative in the ways that they give people the ability to create context around the content they are publishing, maybe Facebook's shareholders will go on alert.

As a marketer, I appreciate that Mark Zuckerberg and his comrades in Palo Alto are getting more creative with the ways they can deliver highly targeted advertising. But if people stop using Facebook, so what? And if people lie about themselves on Facebook, does the personalized targeting even matter?

If you're a Facebook advertiser how is your conversion-per-clickthrough or revenue-per-clickthrough looking? Up or down? Flat? Not sure?

Facebook, et al, find a better way to let people create context around the content they are sharing. And maybe even want to tell the truth a little better so the world can come closer together.

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  • http://www.alessiomadeyski.com/ Alessio Madeyski

    Great one David!

    I wrote a post few months ago called “fuck facebook” ( http://www.alessiomadeyski.com/fuck-facebook/ ). I have FB right now, but just to have some fun on other’s profile and to push a bit my posts (believe it or not, I receive some traffic from FB…sad, I know)

    But yeah, I’m not able to use FB to engage, and even less to find great stuff. Plus, (and it’s a big plus) I don’t like at all their UI…too much clutter. I really would like to see a neat version of FB, with great content popping up like twitter. But it’s not going to happen, because that’s no the goal for them.

    thanks for sharing!

    • http://www.davidmcohen.com/ David Cohen

      The clutter is part of what’s driving me away. In that image I basically annotated all of the thoughts that came to my mind when I went on Facebook on that particular occasion.

      Maybe I’m too marketing-minded, but the clutter makes FB feel like it has a total lack of focus for the product and a vision for how they want FB to be an integral part of people’s lives.

  • http://insocialwetrust.wordpress.com/ Gisele Navarro Mendez

    I’ve discovered a whole new side of Facebook since I moved from my home country: I’ve ended up creating a virtual “daily life” with my family and friends, in which we chat and share photos/videos with each other; and I find that priceless. Plus, it’s the best way to connect with other expats.

    All in all, Facebook is bringing my world closer together so, in my case, it is about the experience, and the rest is just freakin’ noise.

    • http://www.davidmcohen.com/ David Cohen

      That’s a great story. In my own experience with Facebook, I can hardly imagine doing anything like that on Facebook. If I wanted to create that sort of thing with my family and friends, I’d immediately think of Google+.

  • http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmanion/ Jason Manion

    The only reason I have Facebook is that it allows me to stay in contact (admittedly mostly superficial contact) with some people that I otherwise wouldn’t. I definitely agree that Google+ would be my preference, but there are a lot of people that just aren’t on there.

    But my opinion of Facebook is a little less harsh than yours. I think a lot of people do find value in that social “news”, and because of their huge userbase, they can deliver that social piece better than other social networks, even if they are more cluttered. I do think it’s possible that the increasing clutter might eventually send people away, as has happened to other social media sites in the past, but I think it’ll be awhile.

    • http://www.davidmcohen.com/ David Cohen

      I guess my problem is this, Mark Zuckerberg said he created Facebook to bring the world closer together. I can definitely get behind that idea, but I can’t look at Facebook in the way that it’s evolved and truly believe he can actually make that happen because of how Facebook has evolved. Zuckerberg never really did much to nurture Facebook once it got huge and more mainstream.

      • http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmanion/ Jason Manion

        I don’t think there’s any doubt that Mark’s vision has gotten diluted as the company has grown, and especially now that it’s public. There are now monetary factors that I would guess would take a higher priority than Mark’s ideals.