Satisfaction (not) guaranteed

There was a recent editorial piece -which I'll probably plagiarize- which spoke about Facebook now basically becoming a utility. It has gotten so big and so popular that it has almost become akin to electricity company in the sense that you can't live without it. This happened to email also but the difference is that there are tons of choices (gmail, yahoo!, hotmail) which are all compatible which is not the case with FB.
In a recent poll, Facebook ranked right along with utility companies in terms of satisfaction, think about that for a second. People basically rank their cable-service or phone service the same way they rank this free and completely voluntary internet application. Think about that for a second, people genuinely hate their cable companies, I mean HATE them. I guess it is because they feel they have no other choice and are forced into something they have no control over.. For example in my building we have a choice between Time Warner which sucks and over-the-air which is limited to a grainy channel 7 which basically means you have no choice. Time Warner has a complete monopoly (no FIOS in sight and no dishes allowed on the roof) and thus everybody complains about them especially as rates continue to climb and programing continues to suck.
Well Facebook is seen the same way even if it doesn't cost anything. Between the constant security lapses, privacy setting changes and getting poked by people and updated on their Farmville status it has become an albatross in terms of happiness but there isn't a viable alternative, and people feel it's now just a necessary evil. Advertisers flock because people spend more time on FB than just about anywhere else yet Facebook doesn't have to pay for any content.. Unlike most other websites like CNN or ESPN, Facebook gets away with getting basically all their content for free. So it's a great business model, make an item that people can't live without, trap them into a growing social web, don't pay for any content and let the advertisers bank-roll the whole thing.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry