Man is by nature a social animal... Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.
- Aristotle
With half billion users and counting, Facebook has emerged as de facto Social Network platform in last 6 years. What has fueled its explosive growth? What made Facebook growth curve shot up the roof? Is it because of man being social animal by nature, or is it just another overhyped bubble that will pop in next few years?
Just like any other spectacular Silicon Valley success story, no one can deny that the element of luck, being at right place at the right time. But there are number of things that Facebook did well and improved (to Facebook's credit), and I think that partially, at the least, accounts for Facebook's glorious ascent to its dominance.
What would be these reasons? Here's my list of top 5 reasons why:
1. Fully embracing microblogging
We all know it as status update. Those short couple-of-setence blogging, microblogging, were wholly embraced by Facebook as status update. Writing a quick note of what you are doing and sharing the headline of your activity are easy for newbies and experts alike. Microblogging was so spot-on that there were many copycats; among them, Twitter that we all know and love. Perhaps public has been primed by 24-hour news media and constant headline news feed in 1990's and early 2000's. Hyper-distracted netizens were ready for short burst of punchlines.
2. News feed from friends
What made status update really powerful is broadcasting those headlines, what's known as news feed in Facebook. By enabling anyone to publish quick news bites and consume them in easy-to-view page, Facebook successfully transformed all users to broadcast (share) information, and to tune into the custom channel. And all these in UI easy enough even for average Joes. Brilliant idea.
3. Network effect
Then there was network effect. The whole is greater than sum of parts, and people begane inviting friends, connecting with friends, and share information with friends. In fact, Facebook started as school yearbook online concept just like classmates.com. This network effect of school ties were able to get Facebook to gather first batch of early adopters. What set Facebook apart from classmates.com (which was founded in mid 90's; that is prehistoric age in the Valley!) were first two reasons.
4. Mobile Facebook app
After garnering critical mass, Facebook went through transformational growth in last 18 month. Thanks to exploding smart phones with Facebook apps, people were microblogging and sharing the data on the road. Network effect amplified!
5. Multimedia posting
What also set Facebook apart was clean and easy way to share photos and videos. Picture says thousand words. Especially when you are dealing with emotional contents from people whom you know.
And I'll say it again. After all these right moves made by Facebook, they were there at the right time. A couple of decades of email, decade plus with IM, billion plus Internet-enabled devices, people were ready to connect and start microblogging. Great timing.
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