From what I understand they're not targeting die hard email users, they are targeting a much younger demographic, probably ideally around age 17 and heading off to University.
This is a dangerous game, targeting the youth - they're not very sticky, and it's hard to lure the next generation in when the last generation is sitting there making your service look uncool. If anything, I'd say going after the kids is most effective for a new service, because it will pull the adults in later; going the other way is tough.
My generation saw the cycle play out twice already, with AOL and MySpace: "Wow this is cool, check it out!" to "Sweet, everyone's on here!" to "Hmm, my sixty year old aunt twice removed just sent me a message...that's kind of strange" to "Really, you still have an account there?".
Now, maybe Facebook will be stickier because it's reached such critical mass, but I wouldn't necessarily bet the farm on it - the behind-the-times folks are almost all signed up and spamming friend requests to everyone they know, parents are insisting that their kids friend them, and a lot of the early adopters of my generation are getting disgruntled, wishing that they weren't forced to use Facebook just because everyone else does.
I can't help but wonder if there might just be a natural ebb and flow from one new social network juggernaut to the next, as the last winner begins to suck more and more due to its unchecked growth...
This is a dangerous game, targeting the youth - they're not very sticky, and it's hard to lure the next generation in when the last generation is sitting there making your service look uncool. If anything, I'd say going after the kids is most effective for a new service, because it will pull the adults in later; going the other way is tough.
My generation saw the cycle play out twice already, with AOL and MySpace: "Wow this is cool, check it out!" to "Sweet, everyone's on here!" to "Hmm, my sixty year old aunt twice removed just sent me a message...that's kind of strange" to "Really, you still have an account there?".
Now, maybe Facebook will be stickier because it's reached such critical mass, but I wouldn't necessarily bet the farm on it - the behind-the-times folks are almost all signed up and spamming friend requests to everyone they know, parents are insisting that their kids friend them, and a lot of the early adopters of my generation are getting disgruntled, wishing that they weren't forced to use Facebook just because everyone else does.
I can't help but wonder if there might just be a natural ebb and flow from one new social network juggernaut to the next, as the last winner begins to suck more and more due to its unchecked growth...