Is Facebook Growing Up Too Fast?

Posted by Kendall Harmon

When Facebook signed up its 100 millionth member last August, its employees spread out in two parks in Palo Alto, Calif., for a huge barbecue. Sometime this week, this five-year-old start-up, born in a dorm room at Harvard, expects to register its 200 millionth user.

That staggering growth rate — doubling in size in just eight months — suggests Facebook is rapidly becoming the Web’s dominant social ecosystem and an essential personal and business networking tool in much of the wired world.

Yet Facebook executives say they aren’t planning to observe their latest milestone in any significant way. It is, perhaps, a poor time to celebrate. The company that has given users new ways to connect and speak truth to power now often finds itself as the target of that formidable grass-roots firepower — most recently over controversial changes it made to users’ home pages.

As Facebook expands, it’s also struggling to match the momentum of hot new start-ups like Twitter, the micro-blogging service, while managing the expectations of young, tech-savvy early adopters, attracting mainstream moms and dads, and justifying its hype-carbonated valuation.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet

9 Comments
Posted March 30, 2009 at 4:30 am [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. Chris wrote:

it has led to actual business deals that I am sure would not have happened without it.  plus it’s fun:)  and it will eventually replace my Outlook address book the same way my paper address book was replaced by Outlook….

March 30, 9:05 am | [comment link]
2. Chris wrote:

oh, and Kendall is on FB but he never accepted my friend request - was it something I said…:)

March 30, 9:06 am | [comment link]
3. julia wrote:

I enjoy facebook.  I am a grandma and it is the way I keep up with the lives of my children and grandchildren on a day to day basis.  I reluctantly entered the “facebook” world when my DIL (mother of four of my grandchildren) told me if I wanted to “see” my grandchildren regularly (they live thousands of miles from me) I better get a facebook!  We have three generations on facebook and even grandpa participates with his own page!

March 30, 9:27 am | [comment link]
4. julia wrote:

Oh and Chris—I “ignore” a lot of requests to be friends with people on the fringes of my life not to “snub” folks but to have a place where I can enjoy close freinds and my family.  My husband and I are in ministry and it is one of the “healthy” boundaries we set.

March 30, 9:29 am | [comment link]
5. State of Limbo wrote:

I love Facebook because it has allowed me to regain contact with some long lost school chums.  They are scattered all over the USA and some have been serving as missionaries around the world.  I also limit my “friends” It seems more intimate that way.

March 30, 11:05 am | [comment link]
6. Chris wrote:

julia, if you want to see (i.e. live 2 way video) your grand kids and talk to them at the same time (for free!), then skype is the way to go.  far better than just looking at photos.

facebook allows you to keep in touch with many people on an asynchronous basis.  I see people who have 1000 or 2000 friends and that seems like a lot (I have 175), but the whole “healthy” boundary marker really should be at the discretion of the individual I think.

March 30, 11:30 am | [comment link]
7. julia wrote:

Oh we skype too!  I have one grandchild in China.  We use all kinds of “cyber” tools to keep up!  Facebook allows us to share in the general stuff of our lives (as we also share “at large”) and the intimate talks and chats are facilitated with skype.  God love the web cam!

March 30, 11:35 am | [comment link]
8. libraryjim wrote:

I like being on facebook and myspace, as well.  It is fun, and I get to “meet” people I would never meet otherwise, as well as get information on topics such as hiking the A.T., camping equipment, etc.

March 30, 1:18 pm | [comment link]
9. John316 wrote:

I hate the new redesign.  The last one was better.

March 30, 10:07 pm | [comment link]
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