Facebook's Unbundling Gathers Momentum
All the signs are there for Facebook to unbundle itself and stand as a series of apps and sites catering for specific
needs: Instagram for photos, Messenger for chatting and email, Search and the lesser known but canny Paper. Paper is a
series of stories curated by the user as opposed to Facebook.
Status updates from the traditional news feed still feature but there is more of an emphasis on reading longer
articles. Links to news from higher quality media sources pitch Paper as a worthy competitor to sites like Buzzfeed and
Vox which are popular with the Millenial generation.
When presenting to TechCrunch, Facebook developer Mike Matas lauded the merits of Paper, saying he rarely used the big
blue site anymore unless he wanted to check events and birthdays. Now he probably never checks in as those two features
have been added to the app. The excellent Search mechanism Facebook have rolled out over the last year or so has
features Google would struggle to provide. As well as looking for people or places, it's possible to ask questions such
as 'people who like my page who also like (enter competitor's name)'. This opportunity for business to learn more about
their customers thanks to all their information being in one place on Facebook is enormous.
All this makes sense when you consider Mark Zuckerberg's comments in an interview with The New York Times where he talks
about the difference between using your desktop or mobile. Users don't mind flicking between apps to do different
things, they don't really need a one-stop shop like Facebook on a desktop anymore, particularly as each activity may
require different levels of anonymity or users may want different sets of friends to see pictures to those they want to
chat to. This allows each app to run as high a quality service as possible.
The billion Facebookers are a monumental source of data and income for Zuckerberg and his gang, allowing them the luxury
of unbundling at a leisurely pace, seeing what works and what doesn't over a period of time. What will Facebook look
like in another 10 years?
Ends