From the year 2004, the time when Mark Zuckerberg introduced Facebook, it has become a worldwide chant. From the time that it has become a public company, it has continuously dominated the online world. Domination is the exact word to describe what Zuckerberg was able to accomplish on the last 8 years. Their innovation strategy is to make a world that is more connected and open.
They are focus on developing this technology which will be used in every aspect of social challenges. This tool which makes connecting and sharing easier and it hopes to help people as well as organization to make a difference.
The innovation strategy of Facebook in creating this network-effect machine, which the people will power, is the reason why it has become very dominant. This is also the reason for Google has become scared of it. Facebook has rethought the manner on how people find things in the internet. Searches in Google mean algorithms that are working on the anonymous queries.
For Zuckerberg, search means the people using real identities to help friends find things. At the current trajectory, their innovative strategy is driven towards being the gateway of almost all online activities.
It is not only the innovative idea that Facebook will be making better search engines which causes Google to worry. There is quite little information that is being shared on Facebook that is visible on the crawlers of Google.
The gang of the latter is worried that if there will be too many people that will use Facebook to find the things they are looking for, the quality of searches in Google will significantly decline.
This means also the decline of the profitability in its advertising. This is the reason why they have launched Google+ and promises of yearend bonuses if they can make it a success.
However, facebook innovation strategy has been also been the subject of criticisms despite the fact it is one of the most popular social network. Being able to make a buzz is what gives value to social networks. Recently, lightbox has announced that they will be pulling out from Google Playstore and will be moving to Facebook folds.
This strategy can be very much likened to what Microsoft has employed as when the latter released its Windows XP, the entire world buzz about it. Their innovation focused more on new products which relied mostly from acquisition of startups which can be accumulated to the already huge family. This did not end well for Microsoft since they begin losing profitability.
This can be attributed to the fact that they have lost that original zing and zest which have made them the tech giant of the early 90’s. Some predicted that this is likely to happen to Facebook if they will depend their innovations on individual developers.
Facebook can learn so much from Microsoft in so many ways when it comes to innovation strategy. When Microsoft vied for its place on the tech market, it focused on consumer experience as well as in delivering the best to the consumers. This is so similar with what was the original aim of Facebook.
However, with the upcoming IPO, the focus of Facebook seems to shift toward the sole benefits and interest of the company. Many have noticed how this company had spelled out red line changes on the much criticize privacy agreements. This change is a way in which the data labeled as ‘your privacy’ are being monetized.
Facebook may be considered as one social giant, but if we are going to use history as an indicator it will show that the tech market can be highly fickle minded. It will only show loyalty to something which can give it more buzz and which has the ‘it factor’. As people were able see behind the curtain and increasingly scrutinized the IPO of Facebook, business sector may fade away along with some users migrating to a network that is more practical.
The original adopters of this social site are now grownups. They are now aware of the huge change made which they do not recognize. The priorities and goals of the company have sadly changes to be more congruent with big data participants, investors and cannibalizer of social statistics and data.
The Facebook IPO is expected to dominate record books. The company is expecting to raise around $16 billion which will make it the third biggest IPO and will value Facebook at $100 billion. But, where does it leave its users?
Few years back, a magazine in New York has commented, do you own Facebook or does it own you? This is the very vital query that Facebook users and Zuckerberg must begin to unpack. Getting a graceful answer may determine well if its claim domination will turn into a long term condition. Or, can it be just like any other companies that rose up and fleetingly fall.