Four (or Five!) Reasons Why

….Facebook is the New Friendster

1. Like Friendster, Facebook has enjoyed rapid growth and lots of buzz out of the gate but the novelty factor is starting to wear off even though the millions of stragglers are still signing on. Facebook used to be new, cool and interesting; now it’s the same old, same old. Call it Facebook Fatigue or whatever you like but something’s different.

2. The more Facebook tries to create ways to generate revenue by leveraging its 35 million users, the more it starts behaving like that weird uncle who used to like to tickle you at family parties. Yuck!

3. Mark Zuckerberg and his gang are far too confident, and reluctant to admit when their wrong. Look at the strategic and public relations disaster that Beacon has become. Hailed as a new way to connect advertisers with consumers, Beacon has plummeted into a quagmire of concerns about privacy. Meanwhile, high-profile advertisers such as Coca-Cola have quickly jumped off the sinking S.S. Beacon. And there are signs that early Facebook adopters are leaving as well over concerns about Beacon.

4. Facebook is really about the money now. It’s about the multi-zillion dollar takeover or the humungous IPO. Not that there’s anything wrong with that because, after all, Web 2.0 is all about capitalism (or is it offering useful online services?). But the story is now focused on how much Facebook is worth, and anyone working for Facebook can’t ignore the reality they’re all going to be filthy rich some time soon.

5. Microsoft owns a teeny, tiny chunk of Facebook. How can you be cool if Microsoft is part of the scene. It’s like that weird uncle….

More: Fortune has a story called “RIP Facebook”, suggesting that “A lot of people say that Facebook has jumped the shark. That’s flat out wrong. In fact, Facebook is now being devoured by the shark. There’s so much blood in the water, it’s attracting other sharks. And if Facebook’s not careful, one of them is bound to come along and finish it off. I’ve never seen anything like it in the annals of fast-rising tech companies that fail.” allfacebook calls the story linkbait, while Kara Swisher thinks what’s we’re now seeing is the start of “Zuckerberg-bashing”

Update: All the controversy surrounding Beacon has forced CEO Mark Zuckerberg to pen a “Thoughts on Beacon” post. No apologies for what the company did; only an admission that “we missed the right balance”.

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