Where Should Facebook Go From Here?

It's fair to say that Facebook has been something of a hit. It started as a project launched by a few nerdy college students, but from there it quickly grew to become a global phenomenon and even the most visited site on the net. Not bad.

But the question is, what's next for the social media platform? And how can Zuckerberg begin to build on this initial popularity. Here we will look at some points that he might want to consider (though it's fair to say that he doesn't really need my help…).

The Danger

There are several things that Facebook needs to avoid if it wants to avoid destruction. The first of those is simply growing stagnant. While Google has branched out to become much more than just a search engine, Facebook has not spread itself out in quite the same way and has instead decided to remain focussed on social media. That's all well and good, but it does keep the experience very focussed and it does mean that if Facebook were to fail as a social network – there would be no business left. With Google+ closing in, and Twitter eating up a large share of the market, it's fair to say that it wouldn't hurt for Facebook to diversify.

Another reason that Facebook might want to diversify, or try something new and bold, is that it's currently gotten itself stuck in something of a rut. The problem is that it needs to continually innovate to stay relevant – that's a given of any business. But then this is something which Facebook is meeting some resistance on as so many people are currently so set in their ways when it comes to interacting with their favourite social network: every time Google does make a change to its home feed or to the profile pages, it is met with a huge uproar and lots of criticism from its users. This then is certainly a tricky situation, and it means that in order to be truly innovative, Facebook is going to have to look elsewhere and think outside of the box.

Other Avenues

So where could Faebook look to expand itself? Well one obvious option would be for it to use its current platform in order to launch its new projects which would  mean they needed to be distinct and yet somehow relevant to their current audience.

One obvious option for instance might be a platform for businesses – a kind of 'internal' Facebook for companies to use to discuss projects and edit files and even do research. This would not be a communication tool or a network tool like LinkedIn, but rather a collaboration tool that would provide a set of free tools for companies to use that were based on some of the principles of Facebook but that existed within a company's network.

Likewise Facebook could consider branching out into the hardware market. It would be a bold move and it would require a lot of investment, but it could be potentially very lucrative and quite logical. This would of course have to be a communications device, but it would allow you to take Facebook on the go and it would make it as simple as texting – the popularity of Twitter on Apple devices demonstrates how there would be a potential market for this and if Facebook kept the technology cheap but well designed it could mimic the success of Amazon's Kindle.

It's tempting to say that Facebook should consider expanding on its current offering – and after-all this is something that has remained very white and blue for a long time now and that does look a little tired compared to Google+. However why mess with something that people are clearly happy with? And why be happy to conquer just one industry when they are so clearly poised to take on the world?

About the Author

Brad Campbell is a seasoned internet entrepreneur and an online marketing coach. He helps people understand advance affiliate marketing techniques.