Dear Mark, is Facebook failing?!

"Given time, every trophy will be trashed"

A time is coming when we'll all be asking where was Facebook when we needed it most?!

The reason for this question is simple:

Facebook is one company that has benefitted immensely from users' resources -time, airtime and more time, not to talk of user-generated contents and advertising revenue. As a technology company and a disruptor itself, one would expect that Facebook would, at least, be looking out for the 'interests' of the users in the wake of new technologies like the blockchain, which can be leveraged and optikized to provide incredible value to both the platform and the people using it -as Steemit is currently demonstrating.

Alas, Facebook seems to be looking the other way...actually seeking how to increase its ROI even if it means banning cryptocurrency promotions on its platforms.

The result? Massive migration!

Two days ago, in its earnings report, Facebook confirmed that at the end of last year time spent by users had fallen by 5% daily -about 50 million hours a day!

The decline is said to come from a decision to show fewer viral videos in the News Feed. Really?! Or is this because more and more people are discovering empowering platforms like @Steemit, @DTube, @Zappl, @Steepshot etc.

I can imagine Steemians and DTubers rolling their eyes like...do we care? In fact, I'd really love to know what @ned thinks about this Facebook's 'first' fall.

Facebook shares also fell more than 4 percent in after-hours trading on that Wednesday.

While we cannot categorically conclude that the behemoth, 1.4billion members Facebook will fail, we must not forget history and the fact that the world have seen the demise of major companies who miss their moment.

In fact, Facebook is falling:

The number of daily users in the United States and Canada fell for the first time in Facebook’s history, dipping in the company’s home market by 700,000 from a quarter earlier to 184 million.

Analysts and investors are concerned about this dipeven if they can't voice their opinions loudly yet.

Right now, Facebook's CEO seems to be allaying real fears by advocating for a stronger bonding on its platform.

Mark, who described 2017 as a "hard year" for the company, was recently quoted as saying:

“I want to be clear: The most important driver of our business has never been time spent by itself. It’s the quality of the conversations and connections,”

That statement is not entirely true. In fact, most advertisers (from which Facebook generates over 80% of its revenue) have always banked their strategy on the length of users engagement. And if Facebook thinks spending on safety and security is what's taking its money, blockchain to the rescue!

With the blockchain, as been proven by @ned and @dan, implementing a social network is cheaper, safer and arguably more profitable but would Mark ever decentralize?!!!

Dear Mark, in the long run, "conversations and connections" without content will lead to a non-profitable/nonprofit oriented venture which Facebook seems never willing to be.

I’ll admit it that like most Steemians, I am gradually relegating Facebook and may one day delete my account because no one should really continue to invest in what's not bringing reasonable result, especially when you consider the fact that there are other promising alternatives like Steemit and....(you'll be the first to know!)

In any case, I think if Facebook puts its ears to the heartbeat of its users, it will begin to learn that continuing the strategy of 'zero rewards' to users and no straightforward way to monetizing contents will only further alienate its MVU (Most Valuable Users) -those that actually generate content.

Maybe Facebook cares, maybe not...maybe it's actually looking at how to monetize its mobile platforms in case its central platform 'fails' as it were since Facebook currently controls about 70% of the mobile messaging platforms or maybe Facebook will be smart enough to decentralize and float an ICO!

Whatever it is, we keep steeming!