Octane Interactive released a new white paper announcing that Facebook is Dead. Before y’all jump all over them, read the entire piece. They aren’t ready to dig a grave for the social site just yet. But, they do offer interesting insight on shifts in user demographics (over 30 and even baby boomers are now using the site). So, with an eye toward the future, Octane speculates on what this could mean for Facebook and social networking in general.
As Brandon Sutton writes: Roughly 200,000,000 people worldwide use Facebook and MySpace regularly, but there are over 6 billion people on earth. The point: there is plenty of room for growth in social networks, particularly in International markets. The big guys aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, although the demographics of the people who visit them may change over time.
The paper largely asserts that the timing is right for newcomers to enter the fray and points to rise of Lymabean as having potential for great success.
Lymabean breaks new ground with its Flash interface that allows users to drag and drop cool stuff and send it to friends easily. Music, restaurants, stores, etc. are all integrated into the interface allowing easy sharing with friends. And of course, this is geared toward college students (how Facebook got its start), so the field has plenty of potential customers who are hungry for something new.
Something I wholeheartedly agree with in the white paper is the potential for niche social networking sites. As the amount of web content continues to grow, we will see more people flock to sites that focus on specific interests. It’s just human nature for people to begin seeking smaller communities within the larger one that is the web. (You all know my high school cafeteria analogy).
So, take a look at Octane’s paper; it’s an interesting read — and how often do you really get to say that about a white paper?