Will Facebook still be relevant in 10 years?
Bindi Karia, founder and chief executive of boutique advisory firm Bindi Ventures, says YES.
The current #deletefacebook movement feels like a bandwagon.
The reality is that, while the Cambridge Analytica allegations showcase a highly questionable and manipulative use of personal data, this is not really any different to what advertisers have been doing for years, except this time for political, as opposed to commercial, gain.
Techniques such as scraping have been in existence for a while now – and it’s not only platforms like Facebook that are operating in this manner.
Now is the time for consumers to become more conscientious of what they share online. Do you know how the results of that Facebook quiz are going to be shared? Do you know what viewing permissions you need to place around your online content? Do you care? And if you are going to #deletefacebook, will you delete instagram LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Twitter too? My guess is users will stay, but will adopt a healthy cynicism.
So yes, Facebook will still be relevant in a decade, but I’d count on users being much more astute about what they share online.
Read more: The chief executive of Cambridge Analytica has been suspended
Dr Savvas P Savouri, chief economist and partner at Toscafund Asset Management, says NO.
There is nothing like hitting a stock when it is down, but this is nothing like that. For I would have argued that Facebook was “short-dated” over the next 10 years even had the Cambridge Analytical scandal not broken.
For while I will not pretend to know what exactly will come to fill its place, I will confidently argue that the current cohort of loyal followers will be Facebook’s last generation to do so.
My reasoning is simple: in the fast-moving and fiercely competitive world of technology, Facebook has become a sitting target. Facebook is not alone in facing up to failing relevance, and it is far from being the first “game-changer” to find that others come along and move the game on.
On the theme of “games” I doubt any enthusiastic Facebookers know of past “changers”, like Atari, Palm Pilot, Psion, or Friends Reunited.
These were once seemingly unassailable. They are now distant memories – and in 10 years, Facebook will be too.
Read more: DEBATE: Should we be worried about the Cambridge Analytica data row?
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