IS FACEBOOK STILL COOL ONCE ALL THE COOL KIDS LEAVE?

This article is good.

I actually set down as soon as I got home from work to read this blog, 52 Weeks of UX. Specifically, this article which denotes the inevitable demise of the power house that is Facebook.

...social media is itself as temporary as any social gathering, nightclub or party. It’s the people that matter, not the venue. So when the trend leaders of one social niche or another decide the place everyone is socializing has lost its luster or, more important, its exclusivity, they move on to the next one, taking their followers with them. (Facebook’s successor will no doubt provide an easy “migration utility” through which you can bring all your so-called friends with you, if you even want to.)

We will move on, just as we did from the chat rooms of AOL, without even looking back...

Author Josh comments that looking at things long term "[he] definitely agrees with Rushkoff…Facebook has a lifecycle just like everything else."In the mean time Josh goes on to explain how we are able to "identify several factors that will influence how fast Facebook loses its mojo." A brief overview of these factors are listed below, or read the whole article here. 

• Social Export Graph (which is very cool)
• Loss of Exclusivity (which is valid)
• The Value of Niche Networks (not a new concept, but a seemingly accurate one) 
• A Return to Identity (well, we are all vain)

It seems impossible to determine the future of Facebook, the rate at which the online landscape seems to expand and change is unlike no other. I already find myself bored of Facebook, the way in which I use it has completely changed over the past 5... possibly 6 years. I still hold my stance that Facebook is fucking us all up, but hey. That's just my opinion.