Will the Facebook Bubble Burst In 2014?

                                                                                                                                                                         Other social networks and social sites have some element of network effect, but also have other qualities. For example, if everybody suddenly stopped using YouTube tomorrow, the site would still be valuable because of the content already present. If everybody except the top one million users stopped posting to Twitter, it would still be worth using to get the tweets of those million users. If everybody quit Google+, it would still have the Internet’s best photo tools, video chat feature and lifelogging system.

Facebook: not so much.

People don’t like Facebook. The total effect of Facebook’s features, functions and design is strongly negative.

People love using Facebook because they love the other people who use Facebook. And that’s why Facebook feels like a “bubble” that’s overdue for a collapse.

Once everybody is no longer on Facebook, the “network effect” is weakened and its value decreases for everyone.

Facebook is suffering from a quiet abandonment, especially among teens and people in their 20s -- Facebook’s original demographic.

It’s quiet because most people who leave maintain their accounts and pretend to use the site for the benefit of those left behind -- parents, grandparents, co-workers and so on.

Here are what I believe are the top ten reasons people leave Facebook:

1. Social groups collide. Teens and twenty-somethings post messages with their friends in mind, then grandpa chimes in and wrecks the conversation by saying: “What the heck does “wtf” mean?” You post pictures of your drunken New Year's Eve antics, then later wonder how those pictures are affecting your promotion prospects at work. Social groups collide on Facebook, and younger people hate that.

2. Users are overwhelmed. In an era of hyper-simplicity and minimalism, Facebook is a visual riot. On a single page, you can see the News Feed, the Ticker, a left-navigation bar packed with "Favorites," "Pages," "Groups," "Friends," "Apps," "Interests," the status update bar, birthdays and advertising all over the place, including in the News Feed.

3. Facebook annoys. Facebook is riddled with not only ads, but badly targeted ads. Sometimes, it shows ads that you have endorsed or "Liked," when in fact you never did. It shows ads and lies about the fact that they're ads, calling them "Suggested Posts." Facebook ruins photos with heavy compression. The user interface is confusing, and it's often difficult for users to figure out what's going on or get it under control. Facebook drops sometimes important messages into a folder called "Other" that hardly anyone remembers to check. These and other flaws constantly annoy users.

4. Facebook creates social stress. There are many situations where Facebook puts you into a pickle. For example, you hate your boss. Do you "Friend" him? Do you not "Friend" him? Do you have to change your relationship status for an on-again, off-again relationship? The significant other wants you to, but do you want co-workers involved? Having a single social network where everybody is expected to participate creates social anxiety.

5. Political rants are like death and taxes. Facebook's status as the social network for parents, grand-parents, cousins, uncles, co-workers, former co-workers, former classmates and so on means you have to endure political rants, often strident and frequent.

6. Relationships end, but Facebook is forever. Sometimes a breakup isn't complete until you leave Facebook.

7. Privacy invasion is constant. Facebook is harvesting all kinds of information and doing who-knows-what with it, yet the advertising displayed doesn't reflect actual interests and, in any event, Facebook has not earned our trust.

8. Conversations are annoying. Facebook streams are packed with "success theater" posts of people bragging about their wonderful life, political rants, ancient Internet memes, first-world problems, duck-face selfies and endless gossip and chatter.

9. Bullying, shaming and trolling. There's a lot of abuse on Facebook, especially among high school kids. The abuse is especially effective because a user's whole social and family group might see it.

10. Fear of an unknown future. At some point, some users realize that all that Facebook sharing really amounts to them violating their own privacy. Will posts today harm relationships, job prospects or other opportunities tomorrow?
Where Are People Going And Why?
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what's cool? Snapchat is cool.
Snapchat may fade in popularity next year, be “snapped” up by some Internet giant like Google or Apple or simply disappear like a Snapchat message. But today, Snapchat is the anti-Facebook. If you look at the 10 reasons why some people leave Facebook, you'll notice that none of these problems exist on Snapchat.