Facebook experienced quite a bit of growth in 2013. All signs are pointing to them experiencing even more in 2014 and beyond – if they don’t pull a MySpace and lose popularity. There’s evidence for both of these possibilities if you care to dig around for the information. We’ve done the research for you and have a definitive list of specific predictions for Facebook next year.
Predictions for Facebook in 2014
Here’s a closer look at some of our specific predictions for Facebook in 2014 and beyond. Most of these are issues Facebook has had to deal with in the past, but they’re going to become even more important next year and moving forward.
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Mobile – Facebook began concentrating on mobile devices in a huge way in 2013 and this is set to continue next year. They’ve been able to increase revenue on mobile devices quite a bit and understand that mobile is the future. If they can be on people’s phones all the time, they’re going to be in a better position.
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Spammers – While Facebook constantly tries to do as much as they can to get spammers off their social network site, the problem still exists. This is going to continue in 2014 and beyond unless Facebook takes a more active stance against them. However, they want to make sure they have the most users, so deleting spammer accounts might not be on top of their priority list.
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Advertising – Facebook really kicked advertising (especially mobile) into gear in 2013, and they’re going to keep doing this so they can keep their investors and stockholders happy. The problem is that as they try to monetize their network, there’s going to be backlash amongst their users. For example, in late 2013 they’ve instituted auto-playing video ads on people’s newsfeeds – something that’s going to outrage a lot of people, even if they start muted. Like when one of the affiliates to Panasonic cylinder vacuum cleaners had an advertisement targeted, they managed to get some great response to it. Thus, the advertising through the facebook medium has really come of age!
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Privacy – Many people have expressed concern at Facebook’s privacy policies – and continue to do so. This is likely to continue in 2014 as Facebook constantly makes changes to their privacy policies. Some have said they make it almost impossible to understand how to protect your information on the website. Even Zuckerberg’s sister had problems with private family photos being shared with people all over the world because she didn’t have her privacy settings correct on the site.
As you can see from the list above, there’s a good chance that Facebook may continue to grow, but at the same time there’s also a chance they’re going to crash and burn. Whether or not they end up like MySpace remains to be seen, but many signs are pointing to that possibly happening in the near future. What do you think? Leave your opinion as a comment below and let us know what’s in your mind when it comes to Facebook.