Facebook burnout: Have we finally had enough?

Innovative new sites are springing up to accommodate Facebook-weary social networkers

We speculated in a previous post about whether or not Facebook users were getting fed up, and it seems as though the sentiment has only grown since then. In the past few weeks, stories have been popping up around the web about users growing tired of the social media goliath and the new sites that are looking to capitalize by giving users a better option. 

Teens in particular are increasingly abandoning Facebook. The reason is largely that they’ve simply lost interest and are looking to other sites for amusement. Privacy issues are a relatively easy problem to address with fixes in site functionality – mass malaise is far more daunting and difficult to turn around.  

Which isn’t to say privacy issues aren’t a major reason people are getting fed up with Facebook. A Mashable survey showed 30% of respondents intended to leave Facebook because they’re uncomfortable with the accessibility of their private information. 

With the scent of blood in the water, many players have jumped into the game to try to create “the new Facebook.” The leader of the pack is the soon to be launched Diaspora. Without specifically mentioning Facebook, they make it clear they are the privacy focused alternative to the social networking giant. Investors are certainly convinced there is opportunity for a new social network to take off as Diaspora exceeded its fundraising goal – 20 times over. 

They aren’t the only ones creating Facebook alternatives. Check out this article from ReadWriteWeb for a rundown of the new social networking sites that are coming soon and how they are trying to solve the specific gripes users have with Facebook. 

Despite growing user apathy and the rise of exciting new options, Facebook’s growth continues unabated. Perhaps Facebook is so fundamentally baked into our day-to-day lives that these new rivals will all ultimately fail to make a dent in its dominance. Or maybe one site will succeed in recapturing the spirit of fun and novelty that we all got caught up in during Facebook’s early days. 

What do you think: are you considering dropping Facebook in favor of one of the new players?

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.

Tweet