The social network industry is pretty new so who knows how it'll evolve. But for both of the market leaders that have failed, the reasons are pretty obvious
1. Friendster failed for tech reasons - they grew faster than their servers could support. Half the time you'd try to log in and your page wouldn't load. Eventually everyone got fed up and moved to Myspace
2. Myspace failed because they didn't control the user experience. People would log in and find a ton of spam. They'd go to other peoples pages, which were flooded with javascript, and their web browser would crash. Eventually everyone got fed up and moved to Facebook
Facebook doesn't have these issues. On top of that, it looks like it's paying attention to what their competitors are doing and making sure they offer the same thing. When Foursquare's geolocation got popular, Facebook ripped it off with Facebook Places. The timeline concept and cover picture are ripped off directly from Path. When Google+ came out and advertised itself as having better privacy controls, Facebook tweaked its own privacy controls, made groups easier to use, ripped off Circles, etc. Instagram has a social network based entirely off pictures, Facebook realizes in 2012 pictures are a primary function of social networks so they buy it and integrate it.
Pinterest is probably the next big competitor so I'm guessing FB will probably rip off and integrate how people are linked through activities. If they're smart, FB will integrate blogging somewhere down the line, seeing how microblogs and traditional blogs like Xanga also function as social networks.
Facebook looks like they're trying to become the behemoth of social networks, adding every feature its competitors innovate. Most of its competitors are essentially barebones social networks distinguished by 1 or 2 original ideas. So Facebook rips off those ideas and removes the threat. Since nobody is suing anybody for ripping off features in this industry, their strategy seems to be working.
Your assumption is that Facebook fills an actual void and isn't anything more than a time sink.
The real question is when will people realize that 99% of your "friends" don't care that you went to a baseball game or your puppy got a new toy?
Facebook is growing because people get the illusion that they are the center of attention and that other people care. 99% of the stuff posted on Facebook simply goes into the "void".
I find it ironic that social networks are creating a generation of anti-social human beings that know how to communicate online but lack the social skills necessary for face-to-face contact. You know, what society used to do.![]()
Exactly. This upcoming generation is screwed in so many ways.
Facebook offers absolutely nothing that text messaging and email doesn't except for the "look at me, look at me, I need attention" angle.