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Facebook Owns Instagram: Will You Stay?

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Before I start reading everyone else’s blog (Danny Brown’s just arrived in the box) post about Instagram to sway my opinion, I’m going to just say right now in a timely way… this is all in a day’s work, right?

  • Companies buy competitors to enhance offerings
  • They buy sexy upstarts to be sexier themselves
  • They buy companies to add more customers
  • They buy companies to play in a sector they’re not
  • They buy companies just to recruit that company’s CEO (see below)
  • They buy companies that have NO revenue just because they can!

Today’s Wall Street Journal tells it like it is:

  • Instagram has ZERO, that’s a big, fat ZERO, revenue, yet it was bought for $1 billion in a CEO-to-CEO deal that did not cross the t’s or dot all the I’s.
  • Facebook says it will essentially leave Instagram independent to do what it does best (allow its 30 million users to snap images and post on various Interwebz simultaneously).
  • Facebook bought Gowalla only because it wanted that company’s CEO to come work for Facebook (did you know that?) and Gowalla ceased to exist last winter.
  • Facebook has not jumped on the mobile app bandwagon quickly enough; in fact, its ~380 million users aren’t loving or using Facebook on mobile the way Instragram users HAVE to use Instagram – it’s ONLY a mobile app.
  • Instagram users are nervous there will be charges for usage or ads that litter the landscape of the app or integration into Facebook that will forever alter the core application.

So, let me repeat something that still confounds me…Instagram has NO revenue, but it recently closed an angel investor deal just prior to its acquisition by Facebook. So, the little success story from two guys in a garage (well, really from Stanford), became a little darling much like the dot.com era where venture caps were throwing money at any dot.com that launched to see what stuck. We all know the end to that story.

So, did Facebook spend $1 billion (peanuts to them) to buy a company with zero revenue and 30 million users (many who’ve said they loved Instagram for its anti-Facebook orientation) who may drop off like flies or may not, to integrate into its own platform and ultimately knock down a potential competitor?

That’s a mouth full, for sure, and only time will tell.

I, for one, am staying with Instagram; I have never loved a mobile app so sweet, simple and launch-and-play as I have Instagram. But, let me state…after my beloved TweetDeck was taken over by Twitter and we users began to experience the pain and left in droves to HootSuite…I’m holding my breath.

Where will I go next if Facebook alters Instagram so drastically that we feel the difference? C’mon app developers, please launch the next big SnapIt, wouldja? (There, I just named your new mobile photo app, Ladies.)

And, on a final note…Instagram is FREE. It doesn’t cost $.99 to launch like many apps now do; why not? Isn’t that a paltry source of some revenue? About 30 million users at a buck each minus a cut to iTunes app store; well, that’s some source of income, right? What possesses app developers not to build in 99 cents out of the gate to at least cover some overhead?

So, what about you, Instagrammers? You comin’ or goin’?

Credit: Jayme Soulati via iPhone 4S to Instagram

 

Facebook School, Guy Kawasaki and Selfishness

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This is a story about the icon who was Steve Jobs, but it really isn’t. Rather, it’s an observation about two very different reactions by people I don’t know which prompted two very different reactions in me.

I am enrolled in Facebook school via Social Media Examiner Facebook Success Summit 2011 which launched October 5 via live webinar broadcast world-wide to some 1800 attendees. Ten minutes before the kickoff presentation to be given by Guy Kawasaki, Apple announced Steve Jobs had died. Guy is the former chief evangelist at Apple, the founder of Alltop, and an esteemed author and respected business and social media pro.

Michael Stelzner, president of Social Media Examiner, announced via email that Guy would alter his presentation and instead share a personal tribute about a very personal friend who had graced the world with such amazing talent and influence.

I listened to Guy at the top of his presentation not knowing what to expect. The email confused me as I’m not privy about peoples’ professional backgrounds, relationships, or true measure of influence unless I tune in consistently to them.

Guy was breathless and absolutely distraught. His mobile device was ringing off the hook (on vibrate); people wanted to reach out and express sympathy. Finally, he had to turn it off to concentrate on his live delivery and his in-the-moment-significant-real-time story about his close friend, Steve Jobs.

The significance of this moment wasn’t lost on me, but it didn’t carry that much weight until two days later when I read a question posed by a woman in the Facebook Summit LinkedIn group who asked, “Was anyone else upset that the first session was changed without notice?”

REALLY?!

The passing of Steve Jobs is akin to the passing of Princess Diana, Michael Jackson, or JFK Junior. This woman had the audacity to ignore the impact of this historical moment by sharing it with someone experiencing true and real-time feelings ad lib. Because of this woman’s shortsightedness and posting of a selfish question, the significance of what I witnessed in Guy’s on-the-spot tribute became more critical to me.

I have not gone to follow the thread on LinkedIn; nor do I want to. Perhaps this woman is not an Apple consumer; perhaps she lives in a country other than the U.S. No matter; if Michael Stelzner thought the passing of Steve Jobs that important to segue his kick-off presentation then the students attending should’ve relished that experience, too.

This is kind of a strange post to share, but I just had to get this off my chest; it still dumbfounds me.

 

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

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I’ve been having an argument with myself whether to launch a business Facebook page. I held out all of 2010, and slowly my blog post links began to get shared on Facebook personal along with business answers. Not sure my old pals from grade school really care what I’m writing about; they just want to see updated pictures.

Today’s Advertising Age, newly arrived via post, sealed the deal for me, and here’s why:

Ad Age did a preview of the year ahead in digital marketing; in the “Social Media” section it was all about Facebook. The editors wrote:

  • Digital lives are more complex with “the myriad tools, apps, platforms competing for time, attention, and dollars, but 2011 is the year it gets simpler. Only one really matters – Facebook.”
  • The review said Facebook “is truly global and now has in place the tools to be a partner the way brands had long hoped it could be.
  • It has nearly 600 million members and is still growing rapidly; it’s the largest photo site and largest mobile property.
  • The company has all its ducks in a row: management, a sales team and automated buying platform (plus a deal with Goldman Sachs).”

Others have been encouraging me to take the plunge – heck, what’s another platform to maintain along with two blogs and an active Twitter presence? Stay tuned for Facebook — Soulati Media style.

Meanwhile, did you tap a favorite resource to launch your Facebook page?

What If There Was No Twitter

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Mark Schaefer is a long-time social media peer, colleague, and mentor with whom I banter and exchange heated yet friendly discussion about my views that PR Drives Marketing and his view that I’m on crack.

So, I linked to his tweet with intrigue to this magazine I’d not heard about, Social Media Marketing Magazine (which I now have joined), and, lo, here’s Mark’s excellent article “Why Facebook is More Important Than Your House.” He’s writing as adjunct professor at Rutgers University (pretty cool).

I encourage your read of what Mark’s saying, and then I encourage your contemplation of what I’m saying.

In a nutshell, Mark suggests that people are so aligned with Facebook it has become a lifestyle – the Farmville crap, photos of the grandkids readily accessible, and all the other inanities being exchanged among friends. (My words, not Mark’s.) We can’t forget that our kids are officially the Facebook Generation. Gen Y begets Gen FB.

Where others have glommed onto Facebook; I have become absolutely addicted to Twitter. Mark’s article got me thinking…what if there was no Twitter?

  • The spark in my life would slowly extinguish, and I’d again be commiserating, ranting, laughing, bantering, and learning from my Google RSS reader (which sadly is a one-way street).
  • Blog comments would be more robust because peeps would have to log their commentary directly on a blog as there wouldn’t be Twitter comments about blogs (which happens frequently).
  • Alas, I’d go into deep depression because the peeps I’ve met have extraordinarily enriched my life, professionally and personally. It’s these human relationships I can absolutely say are the single-most hidden gifts of Twitter.
  • My global network with direct connections and open communications to Hong Kong, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Brazil, and hundreds of other cities and countries would be non-existent.
  • My learning curve would again be extended (as in take longer) without the immediate knowledge sharing Twitter offers.
  • There’d be no place I could let loose a rant, exclamation or share in the fund-raising support for a global natural disaster.
  • Most of all I’d have no community in which I could align, be a peer, become a mentor, share in a leadership capacity or move to a thought leadership and influencer role. I’d be relegated to the traditional method of networking by, argh, actually going to a physical meeting.

Perhaps your experience with Twitter has not been as rich as mine; if that’s the case, I encourage your exploration of this channel because Twitter’s hidden gifts bear more than the Three Wise Men.

What would you miss if there was no Twitter?

Should We SMB Facebook?

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Twitter offers lovely surprises when you least expect it. I had no idea I’d banter intelligently with Neicole Crepeau (@neicolec) and invite her to a phone chat which resulted in both of us describing ourselves as SMBs frustrated with the health care reform situation. Nicole runs Coherent Interactive  and blogs on social media here.

My initial thrust in reaching out to Neicole was oriented to “what can we do as bloggers” to fight back?

Neicole, idea person that she is, suggested a Facebook page. That put the wheels in high gear. I’ve been avoiding starting a Facebook page for Soulati Media, Inc. because the Web site is still not where it needs to be (my designer is in la la land and not responding), and my blog pages need to be built with informed content. Why open yet another channel when my house is not in order?

Rather than Facebook about me and be so repetitive and boring, Neicole and I briefly addressed a Facebook fan page for small business owners struggling with high emotion about taxes, insurance, finance, and all other issues that form the backbone of our businesses.

Several years ago, I registered a domain name that would address the administrative inside of a business; the site would be a plethora of resources for all SMBs to tap and enable a smooth sail for these issues that plague us. My dream is still a dream, but this Facebook page is more a reality and easier implemented, too.

Here’s the invite…

We’re seeking SMBs (that’s small-to-medium businesses) to join us on this venture. Our aim is to create a forum for us in business to voice our concerns, share tales, and lend support to our peer groups. The role of those who engage would be to add links, content, comments and encouragement to anyone stopping by.

There’s no monetary gain here unless you get a lead from a prospect eager to engage in our conversation. The commitment is one of intellectual stimulation, some time, and the ability to freely say “I’m ticked off that SMBs continue to be gouged for more taxes, higher premiums, and more accounting demands…etc.”

As Neicole and I run successful ventures that keep us hopping (see above), we’re eager to find like-minded folks to launch this yet-to-be-named forum.

If you deem this cause and our mission agreeable, please join in. Just a note below is all we need to engage. If you think the Small Business Forum worthy and you’d participate, please also give me a nod here.

From the pod of a seed, big ideas come and a community is generated.