Posted by Can you imagine a world where Facebook surpasses Google?
"Facebook ruled the Web last week just squeaking past Google to become the most popular online destination among United States users. For the week ending March 13, Facebook claimed 7.07 percent of U.S. Internet visits, while Google was right behind the social network with 7.03 percent, according to metrics firm Experian Hitwise. Compared to the same week in 2009, Facebook visits grew by 185 percent, while Google was comparatively stagnant with a mere 9 percent increase in visits."
That was the news from PC World in the article, It’s Official: Facebook Rules the Web, published today. Interesting? Absolutely, but this isn’t the first time that Facebook has surpassed Google. It has happened in other instances (like on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day), but this is the first time that the online social network held on to the top spot for an entire week. While online social networking is becoming an ever bigger part of the online diet for consumers, it’s unlikely that it can keep a hold on this position. As Ian Paul states in the article, it’s doubtful that "we’ve reached a point where it’s more practical to turn to Facebook instead of Google as an important source of information." (all I can do is nod in agreement).
Facebook continues to evolve and change what it means to people and its impact on the media.
In fact, there was some more news on how Facebook impacts brands as well. From Mashable‘s Blog post, Facebook and Twitter Making a Major Impact on Purchase Decisions [STATS]: "… the study by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies found that consumers are 67% more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter, and 51% more likely to buy from a brand they follow on Facebook. Moreover, they’re 79% more likely to recommend their Twitter follows to a friend, and 60% more likely to do the same on Facebook."
Things are getting more and more interesting for Social Media with each and every day.
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I was surprised when I read Facebook passed Google in visits yesterday, but then again, Social Media is definitely playing a huge role in everyone’s life. Some people won’t admit the impact but this proves we are connecting with each other through a digital presence.
Interestingly though, I had a conversation yesterday with a colleague that thought Twitter was just a fad. He saw no value in it and really couldn’t understand how people were using it as a tool in digital marketing or to connect to their community. Until I got my smartphone, the fruity kind, I hardly visited or updated my facebook page. Now with my mobile device and facebook app, I view it daily due to the convenience. I can stay in touch with multiple friends and communities at a touch of a finger.
This is powerful.
I’ve tried to QUIT facebook a few times with the advent of the “FACEBOOK APP CRAZE” that seems to sweep through facebook every couple of weeks (Farmville, Mafiawars, Which Sex and the City Character Are You Quizzes). The first time I ditched my account I lost the 2300 Facebook friends I had built up over time, and for me, as a comedian, it was the absolute DUMBEST THING I’d ever done. Traffic stopped flowing, my videos weren’t being watched as much and I was paying the price for cutting off my contacts on Facebook.
Facebook is a major traffic driver for me. I am super focused on creating good content for my “fans” and “followers” and facebook allows me to reach thousands of people instantly.
I thought Facebook was in danger of becoming the next MYSPACE with all the “APPS” and game features it was adding, but, thankfully they added the “HIDE” feature and now when I don’t like what someone posts over and over again, I simply send them to Facebook purgatory. I love it.
I think that the internet is slowly moving towards a more community based environment; whilst I agree that Google has ‘all the answers’ and ‘is all seeing’ what it doesn’t have is a sense of belonging that is fundamental to how us humans live our lives.
Many of the people in my Facebook circle have similar tastes and hobbies. I recently witnessed two events that show just how strong Social Networks can be in changing people’s purchasing, a good friend had a ‘bad experience’ with a local Trader, that Trader was the subject of several ‘Wall Posts’ and many people have now discussed the alternatives and selected a new supplier.
On the flip side friends that needed a Vet recently for a very expensive animal (they are Dog Breeders) have created a Fan Page for the local Vet and you guessed it many people in their circle of friends are pet owners too.
And finally a personal anecdote I recently needed some testing of a new website project done… a quick posting of ‘What’s on your mind?’ on Facebook and I soon had more than enough willing test subjects !
I can imagine it because it’s real. And the good part about it is that it’s refreshing and in full force to push for new boundaries. The era of “Your search returned 3,200,192,299 results” is finally coming to an end. –Paul
I found the stats on branding to be particularly interesting.
Word of mouth is the best form of marketing and Facebook is the “word of mouth meets the internet.”
If I wanted to buy a camera, I would ask my friends who have a camera how they like theirs. Now I can email them all at once in about 10 seconds and make a decision without looking at one advertisement.
It makes me wonder if Facebook has become so popular that it can beat even the world’s top search engine in traffic, can it ever be beaten from here on out?
I see this world right now where Microsoft has become the plumbing and Google is the hot new thing.
And not too long ago we would have been saying that IBM has become the plumbing and Microsoft is the hot new thing.
I think we could now throw the idea out there that in the not so distant future, Google will become nothing more than the plumbing on which the hot new companies like Facebook use.
So true, Mitch.
Things are getting more and more interesting for Social Media with each and every day!
Such a dynamic time.
That people are more likely to buy and recommend brands they follow on Twitter and Facebook is not at all surprising and I don’t think social media plays a role in it at all. People are following the brands they are loyal to, not developing loyalty to the brands they follow. What is interesting to me, and I think is the value for a brand, is that people have more and easier ways to evangelize for and recommend a brand with these new channels. And if these social networks do become bigger than Google, that will be some real power they are weilding.
Danielle, you wouldn’t believe how many people still have to be convinced that it is a good use of time to use Facebook or any other type of social media. But of course, I still know people who don’t like to use their email or a mobile phone. However, we have to admit that in business these days social media is as necessary as email. Wouldn’t it be strange to say to someone, ‘what’s your email address’ and have them respond, ‘I don’t have one’. So the day is fast approaching when the question, ‘will you friend me’ has to be answered with a yes I can. For me, getting on Facebook was necessary because at one time we had 3 kids in college at once. So I found out that they had started a FB profile for me so I could see pictures. The last thing I wanted was to have college age children posting for me so I took control of my own profile and found out it was fun. Now I definitely use all types of social media to advance my business goals. Even though I’m consider a little guy (or gal) I feel much bigger on FB. LOL! Now even when I go to local networking meetings people will see my business card and say they already know about me from online. How crazy is that? I hope you can help your colleagues get up to speed. It’s much easier to try something in the beginning when everybody is learning than to try to catch up.
I’m scared, Mitch!
I wonder how long it will be before Facebook comes out with its own Mobile Operating System. Hell, it’s already got a good amount of apps and it’s all web-based.
First the Google Android, next the Facebook Cuddle-Bear.
If the Android doesn’t do it, then Cuddle-Bear should be Apple’s worst nightmare.
Oh and thanks for writing “Six Pixels of Separation,” it had some very interesting concepts and stories in it, “Burn the ships!” I think Cortes burned the ships just so he could stay out and party longer and use it as an excuse to his wife for why he got home late, “Honey, you don’t understand, how did you expect me to be back home for our anniversary if I had no ships? Don’t you appreciate all of this Aztec jewelry I brought back?” Shady, and here we are inspired by his story…
Man, I can’t wait for Cuddle-Bear to come out already.
Online communities have been around for many years, evolving through BBS, online discussion forums, niche communities, intranets. But I would say never before have community building and attention time grabbing gained so much fervour as the likes of Facebook and Twitter in the last couple of years. My thought -> The stickiness comes from individual’s innate want of outreach and the (consequent) continual rippling of semantic wealth. The speed of change in communication modes and social graphs, relationships are simply mind boggling.