3foldComm

So, Facebook has hit 500 million users. Impressive.

But is the number good for the social site…or detrimental?

As more people join, the numbers also show Facebook activity is on the decline. In fact, the blog Inside Facebook recently reported a decline in the number of 18- to 44-year-old active users in the U.S. in June — particularly 26 to 34 year olds. And it doesn’t look like a fluke. The blog’s guess for the decline: privacy. For sure an issue Facebook has gotten battered by of late, and one the declining age groups care about. But is it really the driving factor?

As a member of Facebook’s biggest declining age group, and someone who has significantly downed my Facebook usage of late, privacy is absolutely a factor. But, at least for me, it’s not nearly as influential as a loss of having good old fashioned fun on the site.

Facebook is a job now. Updating is an effort, keeping in touch with friends’ updates is more difficult, and my streams are choked with ads, games, and information that has veered from Facebook’s original charm: enjoying the happenings in friends’ and family members’ lives.

With the flood of apps and fan pages joining the community – looking to connect where their users are of course – Facebook has become more commercial than conversation. And this is a dilemma for marketers.

An audience of 500 million people is impossible to ignore, but as more and more brands enter the arena, the conversation becomes less and less relevant to personal users. In fact, the latest annual ACSI e-business report gave Facebook a score of 64 out of 100, one of the lowest levels of customer satisfaction among all businesses measured and on par with airlines and cable companies.

People want a Facebook that no longer exists — a pure, simple way of keeping up with friends. Marketers want Facebook to help them connect with people in more meaningful ways. Can the two find common ground? They have to if Facebook is to survive.

The first step is for brands using the site to learn to respect the idea of Facebook from a user’s perspective. It’s a whole new ballgame for marketing strategy, because the old rules don’t apply in this social setting. It’s time to come up with some new ideas…which, unlike Facebook of late, can be quite fun!