Dot Com Bubble Burst 2.0?

The internet is probably the biggest single continuing achievement in human history. It constantly evolves to become more and more integrated into our daily lives. It helps organize our lives, entertains us and helps run our businesses. And business is where it's at for the internet. Business and the internet rely on each other, hence there are some absolutely huge internet based companies around at the minute, take Google and Facebook for example.

It's Facebook I really want to focus on here. It has a current subscriber list of roughly 800 million. Behind Google, it's probably the biggest online company on the planet. Up to to now, it has remained a business solely existing in the online universe. But it is currently drawing up plans to float on the stock exchange either before the end of the year or at the beginning of 2012, valuing itself at a staggering $100 billion!

This to me a huge over-estimation of what any internet company could possibly be worth. Facebook is a solely web-based social network, selling no physical product. The company is totally different to someone like Apple, who are currently worth anywhere in the region of $240-$300 billion. The difference here is that they're selling a physical product, something you can hold in your hand and use to boost your personal enjoyment or aid your job in business.


Facebook so far have earned their money through their advertising and selling of private shares to various people and organizations. But can a social-networking site really be worth the $100 billion Zuckerberg is hoping for?


My worry is that trying to turn a website without a physical product into a business is unsustainable. It would rely on public interest. We all thought MySpace was here to stay. Now look what a disheveled presence it now has compared to what it used to be. Thousands of staff made redundant, multiple sales and re-sales, company worth slashed. This is a company which only had social-networking and a music service to offer - something very similar to Facebook.

Are we seeing the makings of a dot com bust 2.0? Look at the share values of other sites like Groupon and LinkedIn. Both have suffered sharp falls in the value of their shares. 

Websites tend to have a pattern of losing interest. This site for example has quite sudden loses of interest from time to time. People must get bored of me! And that can be taken for things like Facebook and other social-networking sites. People will get bored and will want something new, no matter how many times you change the interface and add new extra little features that many probably won't use anyway. So turning something which such a volatile future is very risky, and and I don't personally believe it can work.


Comments and opinions welcomed as always!

Privacy Is Good

There is absolutely no doubting the immeasurable benefits that social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have brought to the world. They helped orchestrate the protests in Iran in 2009 and helped the spread of the fight for democracy in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other states. They've helped businesses gain a larger presence online and are now starting to garner extra customers from it. They've also helped the general public see into each others lives. But is this a good thing?

Speaking from my perspective, I really don't like everyone knowing everything about me. My Facebook settings are all set to the highest settings, so that only my friends can see my info. The great thing about being anonymous on Twitter is that people know very little about you. The only time any information is given about you is when you decide what you want to say on there yourself. No profile picture if you don't wish to have one, no bio, no place to live. Simple. I know you can chose to do that on Facebook, but there is more of a social pressure to put as much information as possible about yourself on there.

Humans are naturally curious creatures. But since the arrival of social media and the explosion of the Internet, I believe it has molded us to become more nosey, more curious, to the point where we almost intrude. All those on Facebook are probably all auto-tuned now to start looking through all the information and news feeds of people they are friends with, but this characteristic I believe has jumped from the screen into the real world. In general conversation I've often found myself thinking why people are asking such personal questions. Why people are taking such an interest in other people's private lives. 

A perfect example of that is the TV program Made In Chelsea. I know it's not 100% real, but I'm lead to believe that the scenarios those characters are in are genuine. If you listen to the conversations they have, all they ask each other is what is going on in their lives, who they're shagging, what they feel about this, that and the other! If someone asked me that, I'd tell them to get lost! I'll tell you when I want to!


The other problem I've found with having such an open social media society is the frictions it creates within groups of friends or family. Before social media, if people got on other people's nerves and wanted to talk about it, they could text others to have a rant and moan. Now, all people seem to do is put their grievances and below-the-belt comments on Facebook or Twitter for everyone to see - half intentionally so that the person the comments are regarding can see them! Whatever happened to talking through a problem? 


There's nothing wrong with privacy. Privacy is good. Privacy allows you to be you, without having any pressure from external influences. You can solve your own problems on your own terms. It allows you to say what you want, when you want, at your own pace. 


I've always been uncomfortable with such a high level of knowledge about people, I rarely want to know anything about anyone even hardly secret because I would feel burdened by having that knowledge, I wouldn't know what to do with it. There have been many times where I considered shutting down my Facebook account, I wouldn't miss it. But it does serve as a useful communication tool between me and my friends. I only ever use Facebook for jokes, silly pictures or daft statements - fun stuff that people cant' possibly take offence to or cause harm.


There was a interesting post about privacy and social media in The Guardian today, click here to read it.