Facebook is up to something.....

Two weeks ago I blogged about the strange acquisition of Instagram by Facebook for $1 Billion. This week I find myself reading another interesting story about Facebook. Recently they purchased "a large stack" of patents from IBM, and this week they have purchases even more from Microsoft. This is not uncommon for tech companies to buy patents from other tech firms so that they can make use of the most up to date tech, but the weird part is that Facebook is being very secretive about how much they paid IBM for their patents. Normally Facebook has no problem releasing information like that (Case in point Instagram) which is what makes this so fishy.  Why could Zuckerberg and his execs be hiding, and what could they gain by hiding it? These questions are new for Facebook, and are starting to bring a shroud of mystery over an otherwise very public company.

The other aspect of this goes back to what I was saying two weeks ago about Zuckerberg building his empire, and starting to throw his weight around. The more patents Zuckerberg buys the more control he gains over the tech market, specifically the networking portion. Facebook is growing rapidly, and the more technology he has the more power he has. that includes licensing and future sales of those patents, which are all new forms of revenue streams for the company. Which with the IPO just around the corner could be a huge seller. regardless, I still feel that Zuckerberg is building his forces and gaining dominance so that when the time comes he can make his big move and ascend tot he thrown as the first king of the internet.

And looking at his history in starting Facebook, will mean that no one is safe.

People Doing Stupid Things on Facebook

This week I saw a picture of a man siphoning gas out of a cop car and giving the finger. At first I looked at it and said to myself, how stupid can you get. Then my question was answered.... He put the picture on Facebook. This young man in Kentucky was subsequently arrested as was his girlfriend who took the picture. After he was arrested, the police and media asked why he had done, and also why he had photographed the theft. His response? He was trying to be funny. However the time in jail and the subsequent fine are not so funny. for him or his girlfriend. This is I hope is not the next trend on Facebook. Stupid people doing stupid things to get a "laugh" and eventually ending themselves in jail. This could go the way of YouTubing practical jokes and ending up on Ridiculousness of Tosh.0, people will start doing things to get famous on Facebook and end up in the news. For some reason people will do whatever it takes to get famous and whatever the consequences it doesn't seem to matter because they got their name in the paper for a week or so. People need to think about what they are posting on Facebook and they need to realize that if the trade-off for a few minutes of fame is going to jail and possibly being turned down for a job or other opportunity is not worth the time, effort and hassle

The photo in question --> http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/facebook-police-gas-siphoning-764512

Facebook buys instagram...... for $1 billion!!!

In the recent months Facebook has been making a move to become one of the biggest media distributors and collectors on the web. They have added music, and video to their pages, and are now getting ready to corner the online photo album market. Earlier this week Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion (with a B). This transaction in my opinion is outrageous. There is no need for Facebook to shell out such an enormous fee for the online photo sharer. It seems to me that Zuckerberg is starting to throw his weight around and show his competitors what he has.... in his wallet. The acquisition of Instagram may have an intimidation factor. personally I would not want to get into a bidding war with someone who is willing to shell out $1 billion. This shows that Zuckerberg is starting to get comfortable in his position and to start to throw his weight around, and pronounce his own dominance in the social world, in more than just a developing capacity. Another factor to this story may be that Facebook is getting ready to invade the mobile arena in a whole new way - By dominating popular apps and raking in all the profits. Facebook might even start to cultivate their own upstart farms, specifically designed to develop new cool apps and web services. If Facebook can maintain the financial strength that it currently has over the next decade or so we may be able to see the first web and mobile monopoly take hold, which could cause a very interesting future for social media.

Are people over Facebook?

Lately I have been noticing that people are deleting their Facebook accounts. Recently a friend of mine mentioned to me that he was going to delete his account, and when I asked him why he said that it was because he was bored of listening to people complain. We have a majority of the same friends and I agree that some of the people on Facebook use it as an outlet to complain and get all their feelings on a certain subject out, but I hadn't noticed it as much as he does. Regardless, he is not the first friend of mine to give up his Facebook. Some delete it and then go back but others delete their accounts and then go right back to them after a week. So i realized that this could not be happening just in my circle of friends, that it must be happening in other social groups as well. So the question I pose is are people bored with Facebook and being constantly connected to the lives of their friends? Are people tired of the endless statuses, and poke wars? I think the answer is yes. After awhile it gets boring listening to your friends complain about their parents, or their girlfriend/boyfriend or work or school..... or all of them at once in some cases. Facebook no doubt has a ton of good aspects such as connecting to old friends and relatives and seeing all sorts of pictures and videos. However if your news feed is consumed with people complaining about their life, it gets tedious and boring. I am not going to delete my account just yet but I can definitely see why people can get fed up with Facebook.

What's Next??

What's Next? This is what I have found myself thinking as of late as I go on Facebook or Twitter. What else can bring us together or can relay news in an immediate fashion? Facebook has been around for the past 8 years and Twitter the last 6, and we have yet to get bored with them. This is something that I find amazing. We have all become creatures of such a short attention spans, that we get bored of things quickly, in as short as a few months. But Social Media is the one thing that seems to hold our attention. Is it because Zuckerberg and his team keep updating the look and feel of our walls? Or is it the draw to find out what we are all up to, that keeps us tweeting? I'm not sure what the answer is but one thing is for certain, these outlets are here to stay and we will be using them for a long time.

Another thought that pops into my head when I think of the future of social media, is that there could be someone right now writing the code for a whole new social world. Someone spending long hours working on algorithms and fine tuning scripts, trying to get his/her work to validate.  That is the other thing that is so intriguing about the social media world. It came from nothing, just a small network at Harvard and then it spread like a rumor throughout the world. It has the power to take a group of hardworking kids and turn them into celebrities. And for me at least, is what keeps me coming back for more.

Get The Word Out

It is no secret that social media is a great outlet for people who want to get the word out about anything. Whether it be a band, a business, or family news Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are all great places to spread the news. There is minimal effort in spreading news, it is delivered to each of your friends in their news feed. This is how start-ups and bands get famous so fast. They spread the news to their friends who then share it with other friends, and eventually the whole chain spirals into a network of fans. This phenomena is a sign of the times. People used to print fliers and canvas a large area going to telephone poll to telephone poll, and business to business, to spread the word. Now all it takes is twenty minutes building a Facebook page and writing a status update to get the news out. Having a Twitter account is a great way to give live updates about shows and new releases and software updates. People who follow those bands and companies get instant news. And today the faster they get it the better. The global audience expects news to be received in real-time and thanks to social media they can have it.

Who's Dead?!?

In recent months there has been a new trend within the Facebook community. Fake celebrity deaths. I have seen fake news articles telling of the deaths of Tiger Woods, Lil Wayne, and Betty White all within the last six months. People generate these article to likes and page views, but their impact is far greater than their Facebook popularity. Facebook is a perfect avenue for news and for spreading the word of an event with significance. However with these new fake headlines, it has become harder and harder to dicern what is real and what is not. And Facebook is the one who is getting the short end of the stick. The more these fake headlines pop up the less credible Facebook becomes as a news site, and a place that people can post breaking news. This also hinders their ability to compete with social media counterparts such as Twitter or Google+. Especially Twitter, since it has been shown time and again that Twitter can be used for everything from rallying protesters to spreading word of political figures death. Fcaebook is definately loosing ground and needs to find a to correct they damage done by  fake headlines.