Facebook has made some pretty controversial changes as of late, and people are not happy about it.
No, this isn't about some other layout overhaul. In fact, the average user wouldn't even care about these changes. But businesses do.
Has Facebook taken another few steps to its own undoing? Is this a sign of their coming fall?
As MySpace and so many real-world corporations have plainly demonstrated; nobody is "too big to fail."
Social Suicide?
Facebook recently announced that clicks are a thing of the past and shouldn't be of any concern to advertisers. But wait, isn't Facebook all about the Likes? Wasn't that the whole entire point?
Meanwhile, they've also reworked their EdgeRank algorithm, and one of the consequences is that Pages have now started appearing less in people's Feeds. This could be disastrous for business-run Facebook Pages.
The whole reason for setting up a Facebook Page is to help insure the pushing of content and advertising posts to the eyes of audiences. It'd be like television networks announcing that they'd be drastically cutting the time of commercial blocks.
Facebook hasn't exactly been in the business world's best graces, still recovering from their initial public offering that failed to live up to its hype. Much of that debacle can be attributed to GM pulling all of its advertising off the social networking site, believing that it simply wasn't effective for the cost.
But these new changes seem to be anything but business-friendly. Is Facebook killing off its own commercial viability?
Madness or Method?
So what's the deal, Facebook? The social giant has defended its decisions, citing that the mad rush for Likes and click really isn't effective social marketing. They even have the data to prove it, showing that a high volume of clicks does not cause proper ROI.
Instead they call for more appropriate placing and timing; advertise more often to target audiences instead of trying to advertise to everyone at every time. It's a rational argument, if somewhat self-defeating to their own profits.
But this isn't completely selfless. Facebook cannot afford more companies pulling out like GM did. So rather than let its advertising clients continue to waste money, Facebook is taking the proactive approach and trying to show them how to get better ROI with their social ads.
The social network has also defended their changes to the EdgeRank algorithm by claiming that it will force content-producers for Pages to be more engaging.
[Learn more about EdgeRank here]
Content that is more engaging - with more Likes, Shares, and Comments - will manage to float to the top of the display feed, thus remaining aloof of the new optimization rules.
Content that isn't as popular will sink. It's rather Darwinian, but objectively it's a good kick in the pants for social content producers to ramp up their efforts.
The Beginning of the End?
But the question lingers: is this the beginning of Facebook's decline? As mentioned before, social networks are a commercial service, not a cultural boon. The minute it stops being profitable is the moment a social network finds itself on the chopping block. Could these changes be possibly too drastic and greatly dampen their advertising market?
The problem with Facebook now being openly traded is that the shareholders hold considerably sway. The actions and decisions of Facebook as a company have to lead to net profits.
If the business side of the social website begins to tank, there could be dire overreaction by those shareholders. This can lead to stifling of creativity and innovation; conservative decisions and measures, micromanagement, and bureaucracy. And what does all that lead to? Another MySpace fall.
With these changes affecting Facebook's commercial interest, it walks a very thin line with a terrible and self-defeating pit waiting below. If these changes don't pan out in the end, Facebook would have to answer to a terrible retribution.
What do you think? Has Facebook taken too big a risk, or could these changes ultimately work out for the best?