Kevin Kelleher in Facebook’s Growing Silent-Majority Problem:
This third group – the silent majority of Facebook users – hold the key to the company’s future. Facebook is never going to win over its harshest critics, and it’s unlikely to alienate the people who see it as part of the fabric of their everyday lives. If the company can persuade that silent majority to become more engaged in the site – interacting with bands, liking consumer brands, clicking on the ads targeted to their surfing habits – its future looks pretty bright.
I always find it useful to think about engagement metrics on the web in terms of the three A’s:
- Acquisition. Getting new users to sign up for a site/service.
- Activation. Getting those new users to make their first contribution/purchase.
- Activity. Getting the first-time contributors/purchasers to repeat that activity over and over.
Facebook certainly doesn’t have an acquisition problem (yet), and their ramp-up process is very good, so I also don’t think they have an activation problem. But I can definitely see the argument that they might have a serious activity problem on their hands. Kevin shares some interesting engagement stats, as well as how he thinks Facebook can solve this problem.
(link via @mobivangelist)