Comments on: Facebook is the Gateway Drug of Social Media

By: phaoloo (Phao Loo)

phaoloo (Phao Loo) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:03:37 +0000

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Facebook is the Gateway Drug of Social Media [link to post] http://friendfeed.com/e/1857d358-d65f-47ed-bde7-18cc1cddd9bf

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By: Millie

Millie — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:53:26 +0000

I think you are right on. I was an avid Facebook ‘hater’, but I started an account a couple of weeks ago. Now I have this itch to see what Twitter is all about. Great post!

By: AY Park

AY Park — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:38:16 +0000

Great post. I agree that FB is a “gateway drug” of social media, because it provides enough features to appeal to the masses. If you’re only interested in connecting to view other people’s photos, you can do it on FB. If you want to see other people’s status updates, you can do it on FB. If you want to play games with friends, you can do it on FB. Email, etc, Etc, etc. FB has a comprehensive feature set that will keep it the dominant platform for social media.

I think twitter is interesting because it will never be nearly as popular as FB IMO. What would be interesting data to see is what % of FB users update their status. Could serve as a proxy for how big twitter market might be.

By: Michael Leis

Michael Leis — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:05:17 +0000

What’s most interesting is how quickly the audience is growing and evolving, and how it’s shaping discourse.

Much like AOL was, for years, how people thought of the Internet, and was a gateway drug to IM, I’m inclined to think the same between Facebook (AOL with an API) and Twitter. Facebook gives a highly structured experience to people, putting Twitter’s ecosystem of API-based sites and applications into a common architecture.

For most, the way Twitter works best still seems too abstract for people on the Facebook platform. Using Twitter from the Web is a completely different experience (and less fulfilling for the current FB user) than it is from a desktop application or even browser plugin.

What fascinates me most is that Facebook’s growth in the past six months has not come at the cost of the MySpace or Twitter audiences, where there seemed to be an ebb and flow between the platforms just a year ago. Rather, Flixster and Tagged appear to be drawing on the MySpace numbers for older users by offering a slightly more structured path towards self-expression that is still not as locked-down as Facebook.

But I think the question still remains: now that everyone and their mother is on Facebook, where will the teens go next? With Twitter’s median age as high as it is, it seems unlikely as a next step. Maybe a platform that pivots from FB connect or the Twitter API in its own, “more private” context?

By: barb

barb — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:50:23 +0000

Nice words- and YES, Praise FB! ~ For I too am an ADDICT ! Really, it started out SMALL~ just a FEW little posts, maybe a photo of last weekend ~ THEN~ I found myself logging in more than ONE time a day, two, three, updating my status. Next thing I knew - it was a full-blown BOOKMARK, and it was the SECOND thing I checked every morning right after business email! AAAhhh - FACEBOOK -Aaahhhh THERE is my page - THERE are my friends ! Let’s put some more OLD photos up for the FB world to SEE ! Worse thing, is I’ve gotten my FAMILY involved ! Oh the SHAME ! - now I have Sisters, Sons, and Nieces, Nephews, COUSINS for heaven’s sake ! WHERE will it STOP! My Mom’s SISTER who is 84 years OLD!?!? Can it have even snared HER ! Oh Poor Auntie!
And now my addiction has enlarged ~ I have MySpace, and Twitter, and am flirting with FLICKR. Some days I just can’t get out of the computer chair ~ SIGH
In answer to your original question - IS FB a “gateway” - YES ! YES !! I can’t HELP it !!
(but it IS fun ! )
Barb in MS

By: Leanneclc

Leanneclc — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:40:11 +0000

I wouldn’t be on twitter right now if I hadn’t practiced it on Facebook first. And now I’m on Twitter all the time. Haven’t gone to friendfeed yet - but I’m sure someone will tell me it’s a must, I’ll ignore them for a bit, then I’ll explore it and find it is a must.

The nice thing about starting with Facebook, at least for me, is I started sending messages to people who already know and like me (I personally know all but 2 people on my facebook). It was much easier that way.