As marketers in the social media world, we often hear how we don’t know what “the next Facebook” will be.  The funny thing is, we say this phrase like it is a certainty.  We have become used to seeing social networks or platforms pop up and be successful – only to dwindle and be replaced by a stronger social superpower.  Myspace has turned from the social network giant to a niche entertainment portal in a short amount of time.  With all of the technology and talent out there today, it’s natural for us to assume massive sites like Facebook and Twitter will follow in the Newscorp property’s footsteps.  In presentations we all deliver and hear, we find ourselves reverting back to the idea that Facebook is on top today, but something else will clearly pop up in a year or two to take its place.  After reading the immense amount of news over the past year or so, I’m ready to refute that statement.

It seems like Facebook is adding new functionality or receiving crazy amounts of funding on a near daily basis. Whether it’s providing excellent tracking and ad buying opportunities for brands through the latest Omniture agreement or testing e-commerce capabilities through Facebook apps, it seems Facebook is taking every step possible to make traditional brand websites irrelevant.  We know that’s not going to completely happen anytime soon, but some brands are already placing full digital focus on their Facebook presence (see New England Patriots).  With 400+ million worldwide users, it appears each new functionality will cause Facebook to be “the biggest…”.  As an example, once e-commerce is fully out of beta and perfected on Facebook, it will soon become the biggest e-commerce shop on the web.  And we all know what that means – $ in the Facebook pockets – which is just one stream of money for the social media mogul (advertising and, of course, the bottomless funding pockets are a few others).  The discussion about monetization for Facebook is a topic for another post.  It’s funny, though, that the monetization conversations regarding the social network have quickly turned from “no-way-in-hell” to “no problem”.  I guess being on track for $1.1 billion in yearly revenue will do that for you.

There has never been this much focus placed on social media as a whole.  Networks in a tailspin, like MySpace, never received that focus, funding or constant usage by both consumers and brands.  Facebook isn’t just a tool or social site that has graced us with its presence for a short while.  It is a fully functional, fully mobile, and fully adaptable platform.  So what will be the next Facebook?  What do you think?  I think the next Facebook will just be the next version of… well… Facebook.

Tags: Facebook, Monetization, Social network