Half of Americans Predict That Facebook is Just a Fad

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joebakb

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Until there is some other, faster way for people to display their narcissism, I think it'll be around for some time.
 
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Facebook has had more success than MySpace. But after the .com bust, I do not trust these IPO's. $100 billion seems comical (Like Dr. Evil trying to extort the government).
 

blazorthon

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According to a poll conducted by the Associated Press and CNBC, half of all young Americans think that Facebook is a fad, a craze, and could soon turn into what we could describe as Fadebook.

The survey came as part of the hype that is surrounding the company's IPO, which now seems to be valuing the social network potentially at more than $100 billion. It would be common sense to expect older people to question the long-term value of Facebook, but it is somewhat surprising that younger Americans doubt Facebook's business stability. 51 percent said that they expect Facebook to fade and only 44 percent stated that they think Facebook will remain.

I'm surprised that this many younger people thought that Facebook would just be a fad. I might not be giving them as much credit for their knowledge on social networking as I should be. Facebook will probably not completely fade any time soon, but it will probably peak sooner or later, like all social networking sites before it have, and then go through a hard time, be it temporary or not. However, I can say that Facebook is a little more than what many of the other social engineering sites were, so it might be able to hold on very well. Who knows. Regardless, I know that I don't use it right now and I'm pretty sure that I won't ever use it, unless it becomes a necessity for something (an unlikely scenario, but I admit it's possibility).
 

blazorthon

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[citation][nom]NightLight[/nom]so is apple[/citation]

Apple has been in business for decades. I'm not sure about Apple going away anytime soon, especially with how fast they keep climbing right now. Apple might break $1Trillion market cap within the next few years.
 

CaedenV

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[citation][nom]stardude82[/nom]So what? 50% of Americans believe the world is only 6k years old.[/citation]
While nearly 40% of Americans are creationists, it would be an asinine assumption to think that all of them believe that the world was created 6K years ago. There are young earth creationists that believe that, but they are a very small fraction of the whole. Most believe something more along the lines of 15-150K years, while a huge and growing group are in the Inteligent Design category which does not attribute a time period (or a specific religious ideology), but rather states that if the creation story follows a 'Creation story' or follows the ever popular (but equally debunkable) big bang theory, that God was the one behind it all.

Personally I use to be a staunch young earth creationist, but after studying all sides I have concluded that science no longer exists in the arguments on any side, and that they are ideology trying to push an agenda rather than a search for truth. I still lean towards creationism, but this is a belief founded in my upbringing and my own world views.
 

Ezence

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How short does the time have to be to be a fad?
As said, it will be replaced in time with something else, but i don't think it will be so fast and using it while it's here will probably gain you more then you would lose, unless you get addicted to Xville games.
 

tonync_01

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[citation][nom]whimseh[/nom]Because it IS a fad. It won't last much longer. They never do.[/citation]
I'm not sure what you're basing this on. Facebook has been around and growing for about 8 years now, I don't think you can call that a fad.
 

lp231

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Looks like to be socially accepted into society today, you must have the 3 items
1. Apple products (iPhone, iPAD, iMac, etc)
2. A Facebook account
3. A BOfA account
Every time when I pass this BOfA near my area, there is always a long queue with people waiting for their turn to withdrawal from the ATM. There are other banks in that area with one right next door and while they do have people using the ATM, there isn't even a queue at all.
Another thing I've notice is all of them waiting in queue at BOfA are young people.

http://yesiamcheap.com/2011/09/fuck-you-bank-of-america/
 

d_kuhn

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My opinion... as soon as they start trying to seriously monetize fb they're going to have problems. They've got 900 million users right now because the service is essential free and relatively free of adverts. The second they start popping up the advertising that they'll need to place to have any chance of a reasonable p/e ratio they're going to start shedding users by the millions.
 

ubercake

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I don't see it as a fad, but once it becomes publicly traded and there are board members to answer to with regard to short-term profits (and bonuses based therein), this company will lose any originality that once made it great. We'll begin to see it tank within 5-10 years, if not sooner.

But before that happens, Zuckerberg will reach Buffet-hood as a result of this all.
 

jackbling

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[citation][nom]caedenv[/nom]While nearly 40% of Americans are creationists, it would be an asinine assumption to think that all of them believe that the world was created 6K... I still lean towards creationism, but this is a belief founded in my upbringing and my own world views.[/citation]

Im not sure why i am replying to this, but i would be willing to bet he doesnt actually believe 50% of americans believe that, and was instead making a comical comment on the "Half of Americans" headline.

I make it a personal rule to not talk religion with people who are not face to face, its like talking about what brand of chips taste the best; no facts just pure conjecture, and preference. That being said: How could anyone possibly believe the earth is 6k years old......when we have physical evidence showing otherwise? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauvet_Cave being an interesting example(although this one in particular is slightly controversial, as there are arguments over the dates)

I used to work with an older gentleman, who believed dinosaurs fossils were put on the earth by the devil, to instill doubt; he wholeheartedly believed dinosaurs to be faked.

I admire faith; i am unfortunately incapable.

 

gm0n3y

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[citation][nom]ubercake[/nom]I don't see it as a fad, but once it becomes publicly traded and there are board members to answer to with regard to short-term profits (and bonuses based therein), this company will lose any originality that once made it great. We'll begin to see it tank within 5-10 years, if not sooner.[/citation]
This.

The main owners (including Zuck) are still going to control more than 50% of the company after the IPO. If they can keep their controlling share then its possible they can delay their inevitable collapse.
 

alphaalphaalpha

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[citation][nom]gm0n3y[/nom]This.The main owners (including Zuck) are still going to control more than 50% of the company after the IPO. If they can keep their controlling share then its possible they can delay their inevitable collapse.[/citation]

Zuck owns the majority of FB (maybe even almost all of it), so he could personally make billions more dollars in just the first few days of trading...
 
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