Of course, the article's conclusion isn't based on useful metrics, but on scattershot, poorly reasoned reactions to Facebook's product strategy. Like Google, Facebook is steadily simplifying and unifying their products and as with Google, journalists can't wrap their heads around it.
-Place-tagging is still in Facebook and is arguably more powerful than ever as Facebook has steadily made tagging people with you almost effortlessly easy on all platforms. Facebook's Places directory is probably as complete as Yelp's and they're doing some very interesting A - B user preference polling. I'd have a hard time finding a local restaurant or business without a well maintained Facebook page.
-Every social network has had a hard time encouraging users to "group" so it shouldn't be a surprise that Facebook is iterating/experimenting. Google's implementation really isn't that sophisticated - it simply forces you to group everyone and has a pretty UI. For all we know, this overly-involved friending process is why + is flopping. Smart Lists automate the process to a degree that Google and Twitter haven't attempted.
-Subscriptions looks like another well-measured shot at Twitter. The "subscription" model looks like a much more comprehensible model for following public figures than Pages, which have been quite successful in their own right (see Places).
I could go on, but suffice to say, I find a lot of these criticisms poorly reasoned.
Of course, the article's conclusion isn't based on useful metrics, but on scattershot, poorly reasoned reactions to Facebook's product strategy. Like Google, Facebook is steadily simplifying and unifying their products and as with Google, journalists can't wrap their heads around it.
-Place-tagging is still in Facebook and is arguably more powerful than ever as Facebook has steadily made tagging people with you almost effortlessly easy on all platforms. Facebook's Places directory is probably as complete as Yelp's and they're doing some very interesting A - B user preference polling. I'd have a hard time finding a local restaurant or business without a well maintained Facebook page.
-Every social network has had a hard time encouraging users to "group" so it shouldn't be a surprise that Facebook is iterating/experimenting. Google's implementation really isn't that sophisticated - it simply forces you to group everyone and has a pretty UI. For all we know, this overly-involved friending process is why + is flopping. Smart Lists automate the process to a degree that Google and Twitter haven't attempted.
-Subscriptions looks like another well-measured shot at Twitter. The "subscription" model looks like a much more comprehensible model for following public figures than Pages, which have been quite successful in their own right (see Places).
I could go on, but suffice to say, I find a lot of these criticisms poorly reasoned.