Do you remember way back in the mid 90’s when television commercials would advertise AOL keywords? AOL held such a dominant influence over the online space that this was a necessity. By the late 90’s AOL keywords were being advertised along with the actual URL. AOL loathed the growing popularity of this thing Al Gore created called the Internet. They built their business on a closed platform and were able to control the user experience. Even as the Internet gained in popularity, millions of users preferred to stay within the familiar walls of AOL. Yet in the end, a closed system could not compete with the combined contribution of hundreds of millions of people. You no longer see AOL keywords being advertised in commercials.
Facebook (r)evolution
A few long years later Facebook has grown into a platform that is similar to the shell of what AOL once was, and what they could have been. Facebook has done this through the systematic addition of new capabilities and by maintaining the familiarity of the blue and white structured interface. When things get out of line they reign in control and shift to a new format. This is how Facebook recently kept their system from resembling MySpace through as users were installing countless apps.
A recent addition to Facebook is Pages. Now bands, companies, products and services can enjoy a presence similar to an individual within the Facebook closed system. Today, a Facebook Pages page can share notes/photos/videos/music about them as well as install applications. The ability to add custom applications allows an organization to build any functionality they require into their page in a manner that leverages the social interactions and demographic information available through the API. The NY Times has leveraged an existing application to promote stories on their page. This is a natural evolution of capabilities within the confines of the Facebook platform. It won’t be long before custom applications are built specifically for Pages. Modea has a Facebook Page providing a behind the scenes glimpse into our company culture. Check it out and while we’re at it, go ahead and Fan us!
The Future of E-Commerce
Major websites are now integrating with Google Checkout. Amazon has recently countered with Checkout by Amazon and Amazon Simple Pay. Why would businesses dis-integrate their system to open up other payment options? A: To lower the barrier to a sale.
Facebook has some issues to work out with respect to how organizations are able to monetize applications within their gates. In time, Facebook will provide a solution that fits within the concept of what they have established. So too will they introduce commerce. The next major announcement from Facebook may be the introduction of commerce features into their API similar to what Google and Amazon provide today.
Conclusion
As users are able to get news, read blogs, research companies and products, explore bands and shop from their favorite stores they will have little need to venture outside Facebook. That doesn’t mean the Internet is going away, but the direction of Facebook has been to reduce the frequency for that quick hop over to Google (read: the Internet).
AOL pulled a coup by purchasing one of the most significant traditional news media companies, yet they were unable to keep the Internet at bay. Will Facebook be able reduce Internet traffic of its users to a trickle? The push for data portability and open APIs presents both an obstacle and an opportunity for Facebook.
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