So, Facebook now has a subscribe feature. Yawn! Subscribe is essentially a bandaid for the superuser and has very little to do with the average user. Superusers have left Facebook in droves for greener pastures. And Subscribe lets them share certain public posts into subscribers' streams without letting the general public into their personal account.
One of the numerous issues Facebook has always had was segmenting audiences. Quite simply, it's difficult to tell that vendor, or office acquaintence, no, I don't want you as a friend on Facebook. Likewise, it's difficult to manage your friends and family's urges to post those cute little pictures of you from years ago -- or last night. And, since most users seem to think aloud via status messages, you don't want everybody seeing what's on your mind--especially when it concerns them.
Many people, like myself, were forced to manually segment their audiences by creating multiple identities online. Sure, Facebook eventually gave you ways to group your friends. But, to say that system is unweildy is an understatment. Facebook is an endless maze of privacy settings and options. Even advanced users get caught in the cluster of customizations.
Enter Google+. Google+ is by no means revolutionary. Its core funtion is to share--much like Facebook. But, what Google+ brought to the game was 'Circles.' Google+ Circles is Facebook's group feature on steroids, without the rage and pocked face. Circles is a clean, simple way to group your friends, acquaintances and other audience groups. Circles is a central feature to how you share every single post in Google+. There's no pull-down box, that leads to a pop-up window, that leads to an auto-complete list of who you do and don't want to share with. It's easy and straightforward.
All that glitz and glam is great and all for Google+, but there's one problem....the critical mass is still on Facebook. Sure, the net elite have declared Google+ their new country club. But, meanwhile, our friends, family and other luddite associates are all still seated in Facebook. People decry the injustices of Facebook, but much like bitching about work, they still show up every day. So, until that critical mass leaves, Facebook only needs to manage the hemorrhaging.
While MySpace went the route of WordPerfect, Facebook is going the route of Microsoft. Facebook has the hold on the market and simply emulates the best features of any potential threat (i.e. Google+). Facebook subscribe is using this emulation as a tool for managing that hemorrhaging. It's placating the 'super user' with giving them a way to communicate with the outsiders without actually 'friending them.' Not, very social for the social leaders.... I've heard them lament of having to re-orginize their entire friend group and complaints of the like. But, in reality, the average Facebook user has 135 friends. To, that level of user, my kind of user, subscribe has little-to-nothing to do with how I use it. And, it has done nothing to solve my need for multiple identities.
Fact is, as long as the critical mass is on Facebook, and it is where my friends, family and co-workers are, then I need to be on Facebook. While everybody is still looking for the next, best thing, most are still keeping their feet in the Facebook waters. For that reason alone, Facebook can continue its current strategy without any great threat. Like Microsoft, Facebook will have to try really hard to shake its core of users. Some of us will make use of Google Docs to replace Microsoft. Some of us will use Google+ to replace Facebook. But, it would take a major event for either to lose their core.
So, congrats to Facebook on Subscribe. Yawn...
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