FB’s Addition of @Mentions : Throwing in the Towel?
15 Sep
To me this move signifies what may be the beginning of the fall of Facebook.
I believe Facebook just became to Twitter as Myspace has become to Facebook - a copycat, a poser that is recycling used technology because they don’t want to fall behind in the race and be forgotten. When Facebook came in they had it nailed – a general concept that people were beginning to really latch on to meshed with a completely original, vastly improved interface with deep functionality. But technology and the demands of users morph over time, and Twitter has developed an approach that users seem to really get.
By essentially stealing Twitter’s @mention concept, Facebook is labeling itself as a copycat for the first time – and a copycat is the last thing you want to be when your target market is technology savvy people who are always looking for the next big break in user interface and functionality. Tech-savvy folks know who to follow to get that next big break – Google being the big guy, and for a while there Facebook was in that race. But by implementing a concept that is completely lacking in originality, they are admitting that they are no longer good for cutting-edge better-than-the-competitor ideas. They are now taking cues from the guy they just essentially admitted is the leader of the race.
This is not to say that people won’t continue to use Facebook. A large segment of Facebook/Twitter users (including myself) admit that they use Twitter is an entirely different way than they use Facebook. I for one use Facebook as more of a personal social network – a place where I can communicate with friends and family.I use Twitter to gather and share information with like-minded individuals, those who I share hobbies and interests with – whether I know them personally or not. And I will continue to do just that – likely without having any desire to utilize the @mention functionality within Facebook.
But what Facebook is going for – to integrate Twitter functionality to bring Twitter users over to the Facebook UI – not gonna happen.
