Comments on: Behold the Power of Social Media

By: Scentsy

Scentsy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:13:58 +0000

Depending on the characteristics of your target audience, I have also found that social networking sites like Facebook can generate as much meaningful traffic as any other marketing technique. They are a great tool!

By: Dario

Dario — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:34:00 +0000

I agree that the changes are probably good… but I guess they just changed too much stuff point blank, maybe that’s why people are protesting so much.

On another note… I just don’t understand why they’re not letting people choose whichever profile layout they want to adopt.

By: Mark Smith

Mark Smith — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:07:06 +0000

They’ve not only changed their site, they’ve introduced new features that maybe impede on other services like Twitter. The instant messaging module means that people spend more time on the site, and more time means that they can showcase more features and people get used to the change quicker than if they just visited every so often.

By: Mike Cook

Mike Cook — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:21:21 +0000

We, as humans, tend to steer clear of change. It is no surprise to me that people would not like facebook to change what they are comfortable with, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad design.

By: Alan Hamlyn

Alan Hamlyn — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:51:04 +0000

No you can’t expect them to remain stagnant, however they do need to do sustainable usability & and accessibility testing prior to release of a new website design. That way they are likely to please the majority, and address the minority. Also providing certain hooks / features which only work on the new version is a good way to please users.

By: Consumer Mailing List

Consumer Mailing List — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:17:17 +0000

Change can sometimes be annoying, but is necessary to be competitive. You can’t expect to be successful if you remain stagnant while your competitors improve.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:16:58 +0000

I can see why some people hate the new Facebook interface, but once you start hiding some of the rubbish (quizzes etc..) that come up, I found that it actually became easier to use than previously. There is plenty you can do with customised friends lists and things to make it even easier too.

Also, I think your Google Trends graph may become outdated soon too. Twitter is fast catching Facebook’s traffic with its ridiculous 131% growth last month!

By: Kathlene Carney

Kathlene Carney — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:53:41 +0000

I think people will get used to the new Facebook in due course. I still like it better than Twitter. In general Facebook postings are more thoughtful and substantial. With Twitter I have to wade through too much mindless blather.

By: Steph Hadson

Steph Hadson — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:29:39 +0000

Social websites and viral marketing are twins-ideas and good for seo. In case website to perform well, one need viral approach, and that is FaceBook and Twitter, and Youtube are all about. Great article, like it!

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:02:12 +0000

As a late adoption Facebook user and early adoption Twitter user, I find myself using Twitter more often than Facebook. Facebook, IMO, is reaching maturity as a platform. Google redefined/simplified search the way Twitter is redefining/simplifying social media. Facebook is great, but it requires more time than Twitter to manage. The only question will be how Twitter will exist as a profit center. If Twitter can leverage ads the same way Google leveraged paid search results, the profits could be huge.

By: Kevin Morley

Kevin Morley — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 07:15:26 +0000

I agree – I think that the new Facebook design is rubbish. Where, for example, has the icon gone where you can see what groups people are joining? This seems to have disappeared completely. I can’t believe that Facebook made these changes without consulting some of their users. The only thing that can be said is that people generally don’t like change and once that get used to the new design, the may grow to like it.

By: Domain Superstar

Domain Superstar — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:38:43 +0000

I think that the more that Facebook could work to find a way to involve members in the recreation/redesign of the site that the more long term success they will have. It could be genius if they could figure out a way to incentivize 3rd party feedback and development much like they do already for their various 3rd party applications.

By: Web design and SEO UK

Web design and SEO UK — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:32:15 +0000

Twitter is huge.. I think the appeal is the simplicity of it, and it’s definitely here to stay. I wonder how long it will be before the other social networking sites add a micro blog facility.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:03:08 +0000

Well people may not like it but we’re stuck with it and while some think it’s bad others may think it’s better. On a more positive note:

One of the good things about FB at the moment from a marketers point of view is it’s not hard to get free advertising on the site which is good for ranking and traffic for obvious reasons.

By: Matt R.

Matt R. — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:28:26 +0000

I’m not a big fan of the new facebook design either. I know keeping up with your competitors is important but as Bill Knight said, they made a big mistake of not consulting their members before making major changes to their site.

Posts of the dissapointment people have about the new facebook design are popping up on blogs all over the internet so I’m sure facebook is aware of the problem and will be taking steps to fix the issue in the near future.

By: SEO Consultant Indore

SEO Consultant Indore — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:43:10 +0000

We generally tell all our customers to think of commenting on other relevent blogs
as a way of showing another blog’s audience how much they know/ how interesting they are.
So this new audience will click on the link back to their blog.
This is another method of driving traffic to your site and entices people to write really well thought out comments,
instead of junk to get ranked higher on search engines..

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:24:14 +0000

In general I really don’t like websites like facebook, myspace, or twitter because they seem to always be getting people in to trouble. People also instead of using it to connect with people, at times use it as a way to hurt people they don’t like. You see teenagers on the news all the time for spreading obscene photos or bashing someone and getting arrested.

However, because of statistics like the one you showed here among others on various sites it is getting harder and harder to ignore the marketing possibilities of these websites.

As far as the facebook redesign I really don’t like it at all but I was surprised to find it had such a low approval rating. I’m sure they will be changing it again soon.

By: Scentsy

Scentsy — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:18:44 +0000

I hate the new Facebook layout. But what are we gonna do. When I first started using FB I was lost Just be patient well all learn the new layout.

By: Jeet

Jeet — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:55:32 +0000

Facebook has been in news lately, first for their privacy policy change and now for the design changes. However, it was good to see them responding to user feedback on policy. And the number of votes for the design is overwhelming.

Looks like everyone is afraid of twitter, search engines because twitter represents current trends, news and what is considered NOW web. Social networks are afraid because people are networking on twitter now. Though the interaction is limited to exchanging messages / pics (through twitpic). Even blogging platforms are afraid )

LinkedIn has grown significantly in recent past. Mainly because of all the lay-offs and many people searching for references with their ex-colleagues.

By: Promotional Products

Promotional Products — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:30:41 +0000

I agree. Keeping up with your competitors is greatly important. If you’re not the hunter, you’re the hunted.

By: Earl Mardle

Earl Mardle — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:59:35 +0000

Facebook’s problem is that it has no actual point to its existence, it is a permanent “networking” space where random people wander randomly about trying to make “connections” that will benefit them at some indefinable moment in the future.

The huge stack of business cards collected at such events is as meaningless as Facebook’s plethora of “friends”.

Compare that with a site like DailyKos which has gone through a number of iterations, not without criticism and the owner having to respond and adapt.

But its users will tolerate and adapt as well because they already have a purpose for being there; to elect more Democratic representative to government.

The fact that it has a strong social dimension with people donating their time, resources and support to other members in times of difficulty or offering comfort in times of loss is because they already have an affinity with each other, they are, if not friends, co-religionists who are disposed to help others who share their world perspective.

By: Bill Knight

Bill Knight — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:25:14 +0000

Facebook has made the big mistake of not consulting its members before making major changes to their site. They seem to have forgotten already that they are a social networking site and would not exist without its members. It’s as well to remember that you cannot force your will on others without resistance. All social networking sites should take heed. Don’t mess with your life blood. Communicate with your members, ask, poll and respond accordingly.

Twitter is no threat to Facebook, quite the contrary. Twitter integrates nicely with Facebook. There are many people who find followers on Twitter and then meet up on Facebook to exchange and share more in-depth information either about themselves or their businesses.

By: Charles M.

Charles M. — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:36:10 +0000

I was with Tribe early on, their redesign was terrible – Facebook’s missteps, wow it seems almost destined to wane and after being so big it is kind of the natural ‘what goes up must come down’ course (ahem Myspace)…
Thanks for the ‘do-follow’…