Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Facebook's Focus in 2011 is Mobile Presence

"Mobile is our primary focus for our platform this year"

The social networking giant, Facebook has proven itself to be highly successful on the web. As the mobile networks continue to improve their systems, so do the apps that they associate with. The innovation and improvements in technology have made it possible for more accessibility on their mobile devices. This increased accessibility will provide more revenue for Facebook as there will be a higher demand for their mobile app. 'Mobile usage of Facebook is the fastest-growing part of the social network', says Bret Taylor, the chief of technology at Facebook. With 200 million members, I'd say they're doing pretty well. Facebook still needs to improve their mobile app to make it more cohesive with the actual website and the Facebook network. That is where the new HTML5 web standard comes into play. This new web standard will improve the overall quality of Facebook and will fix many problems that users may have experienced previously with the app. This future expectation will certainly appeal to more consumers and will increase its membership. The demand for the Facebook app will increase. This will cause the availibility of the app to become more apparent because of the demand being so high. Facebook will see much revenue from this new web standard and will benefit greatly from it.

8 comments:

Jason Kern said...

Here is a blog post and video about the growth of mobile phones
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/mobile-statistics-2011-growth-of-mobile/
Some of the takeaways were "over 70% of the worlds population now have a mobile phone, that’s over 5 billion mobile subscribers, and in places like the US, it’s 9 in 10 people. With children now more likely to own a mobile phone than a book, with 85% of kids owning a phone as to 73% having books!"

So obviously mobile is the current/new frontier. Will this demand lead to more jobs or are people who used to work on the web side of Facebook simply be moved to the mobile side? Do you think it is growing the business by supplying apps or simply shifting the business?

Easton said...

With the already astounding success of Facebook with over 200 million members it is no surprise to me that they want to improve functionality on mobile devices. People love to know what their friends are doing, why not let them do that anytime? With the success of the film The Social Network and Mark Zuckerberg recently appearing on SNL, Facebook has become even more popular in recent days. I think it will continue to grow for years to come as it dominates our daily lives.

Alissa said...

@ Kern, I also agree that it's pretty shocking that kids are more likely to own a phone rather than a book. The reasoning behind that may be because mobile companies have become able to provide books via cell phone. This makes the paper form of a book less likely to be owned because of the accessibility of having the book right on your mobile telephone. I believe that this new demand will lead to both more jobs and a shift in focus of the previous workers. It's definitely growing the business. More and more people are buying the app which brings more and more money in.

taylor said...

Just as Easton stated, Facebook will most likely continue to grow since it is becoming a large topic in today's world. All ages are getting a Facebook too so the consumers are from a large variety of the population. As long as these consumers can access the internet on their phone, I believe they will have the Facebook app on their phone whether it is updated or not.

Alissa said...

@Easton, you make some very interesting points regarding Facebook's increasing popularity. The Social Network has without a doubt increased the popularity which makes me believe that that 200 million is very likely to increase. Let's face it, it's human nature to be nosey. Facebook makes 'being nosey' a cool, fun, and entertaining experience.

Alison said...

I definitely think Facebook will really benefit by improving their mobile apps. I know that I really resent mine because of all the problems and limitations it has, so an improvement will be welcomed. Facebook can be so addicting and having a pleasurable mobile experience will just feed that addiction. Nowadays people are almost shocked if you don't have a Facebook, or don't check it at least once a day. Whether we've realized it or not, Facebook has become a pretty big part of our lives.

Cara said...

In regard to what Kern said, everyone has heard of things turning into a virtually paperless world, and I think that only supports the concept even more. As far as Facebook goes, it is a social experience that the internet has never seen before and caught fire quick. It is an obviously successful business and will only grow. If you search, nearly everyone has a Facebook. Even my parents have a Facebook, and I would not say they are exactly technologically advanced. It is easy to use and getting easier to use on mobile devices which will only increase its numbers and possibly our whole social lives.

Erin said...

I think that Facebook has become more of a commonality among people since more people have profiles. Since Facebook has become popular, there have been more apps and more people are starting to join the social network. Accessibility has become easier with the app. The demand is becoming higher as more people join, but there have been recent issues on the app. Already, the CEO of Facebook, has benefited so much from Facebook and its app. I agree with Kern that mobile devices are becoming almost like the new books just as apps are becoming popular, which is pretty shocking, but I think that it is possible that having all these devices could result in more jobs, which in turn can boost our economy, and also the environment, since everyone is going green these days. Books have become available on these devices, which allow us to save paper, since we are trying to become paperless, which allows people to get their things faster. Facebook has become popular among many people (at least those with a computer), that it has become part of our lives. It allows people to talk to friends or play a quick game of Farmville with a click of a button. If Facebook improves its apps, more people will probably join or use the app more which will, which will result in Facebook needing more people to help manage the network, which in turn will allow more people to have jobs, as I said before.