Facebook finally hits the mainstream

O'Reilly Radar's Ben Lorica writes that Facebook has been growing steadily on a global basis, and suggests through the data that Facebook adoption is deep and widespread. Most intriguingly, he finds that in North America working-age users is the fastest growing demographic, while the teen segment is growing much more slowly.

I could have saved him some time. Yesterday I got my haircut, and Valerie, the lady that has cut my hair for the past 20-plus years, started talking to me about how she uses Facebook. Valerie is one of the least technically-adept people I have ever met. If she's using Facebook, the entire planet is.

Take my mother, for instance. I wrote before that my mother has started IM'ing me through Facebook, which was a pretty good indicator of mainstream adoption of the social-networking service. Between Valerie and my angel mother, I have enough proof without reading a shred of statistical evidence that if I wanted to find my fourth-grade crush, I'd almost certainly find her on Facebook. (In fact, I did.).

The big question for Facebook now is how it will monetize that widespread adoption. I still find Facebook tedious and time-wasting. Things like its Facebook Connect service may make Facebook relevant to me without me having to "go to" Facebook.com, and is a step in the right direction.

But Facebook needs to figure out how to make "friends" on Facebook meaningful, both in commercial and other contexts. Once it has done so--once it has effectively mapped my social graph--it wlll have data that it can turn into dollars. At that point, Valerie and Mom will be able to enjoy Facebook while it enjoys dramatic revenue growth, which will be good for all involved.

[softwaredesignengineer]

Actually you are right. I'm amazed how many older folks have joined my list of connections in Facebook. I thought this was a teen phenomena when it first came out. Soon I was on it. Soon I was a regular user thanks to a single place where I can share photos, videos and communicate with relatives and friends regularly. Soon so many older folks joined up for the same reason I joined.

[afratta]

eZanga?s social network, HopOnThis.com has refreshed the way they distribute content, and added a way to build and maintain relationships along with expanding your online community. They reward registered users with points to use toward cash and prizes just for interacting on the site. Some of the ways to earn points are: updating a blog, inviting a friend, and adding a picture. They also offer features such as page personalization, drag-and-drop features, unlimited space for photos, and much more. HopOnThis offers a productive social experience, while adding to the strength of advertiser?s campaigns.

[ihswoodc]

And LinkedIn provides a professional outlet for social networking -- not as much fun as Facebook but could be used in a meaningful way. I've found that other special interest groups have their own communities (knitters, e.g.) with commercial, learning and other monetized connections (or potentially monetized).