Are big brands (and Tory MPs) killing Facebook?

‘Social networking is as much about who isn’t on the site as who is –when Tory MPs and major corporations start profiles on Facebook, its brand is devalued, driving its core user base into the arms of newer and more credible alternatives’
– Nic Howell, New Media Age

It’s certainly tough at the top of the social media scene. Observers expect nothing less than spectacular growth year-on-year, month-on-month, week-on-week. So Facebook’s losing users has led many to right them off.

Taking the guru position is New Media Age’s Nic Howell who puts it all down to inept businesses and Tory MPs muscling in on young people’s turf.

And there may be something to this. While public relations people should always tailor their message to the audience, you need to be careful how you go. Trying to sound like you belong to a group you don’t will only make you look terribly silly. Pretending to be down with the kids won’t impress young people. It’s a bit like speaking in a foreign language, you might know the right words but grammar and accent are still tricky unless you totally immerse yourself in the culture.

Nevertheless, as someone who’d prefer a real Mars bar to a pretend houseplant, I’m more convinced by Alex Burmaster of Nielsen Online’s fatigue theory. I began as an enthusiastic Facebook user, but soon got tired of getting bitten by vampires, werewolves and the like. It’s hard to tell someone you went to school with and have hardly seen for twenty years that you find that kind of thing sad. Much easier to gently let go and fade away.

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