f8club

David Gal stellt in einem Gastbeitrag auf Venturebeat die FrageIs Facebook’s Platform a Strategic Mistake? und kommt zu folgendem Schluß:

To conclude, Facebook’s focus should be on building, maintaining, and leveraging its core strategic asset, its network, and Platform is not well-suited to these goals.
First, platform does little to build the network, because while a large number of applications is an important reason for people to buy Windows, a large number of relevant users is the most important reason for people to join Facebook. In fact, rather than attracting users to Facebook, most Facebook applications acquire users through Facebook (and then get to split revenues with Facebook).
Second, useful applications are important to maintain the network, but the most useful applications are those that have the largest number of relevant users, that are well-maintained, and that do not require users to share their personal data with third-party developers. Platform applications are unlikely to meet these criteria.
Lastly, leveraging the network implies using that asset to pursue applications from which Facebook can derive revenue, such as dating, jobs, fantasy sports, event-ticketing, auctions, etc. By relegating these applications to Platform and focusing on advertising revenue through impressions, the user-base is fractured, and the value of the network is squandered.

Davif Gal spricht drei Themen an, die durchaus Relevanz haben, aber ich glaube dennoch nicht, dass er die richtigen Schlüsse daraus zieht. Kurzfristig mag er recht haben, aber mittel- und langfristig wird die Attraktivität der Platform dafür sorgen, dass Facebook weiterhin Stickyness für viele User erreichen wird.