What can social networking investors learn from GeoCities?
Before MySpace, Facebook and Twitter there was once GeoCities. Yes back in the 90’s, GeoCities was going to take over the world and change the face of the Web. So Yahoo spent a bunch of cash ($3 billion) and bought up that very ‘valuable’ piece of Web real estate.
…. Hmmm this kinda reminds me of the Facebook and Twitter hoopla.
Geocities is closing its’ doors
After a decade of spuddering about, it seems that Yahoo has finally figured out that there is no money in having a bunch of lame web sites filled with lame content:
Yahoo Inc. said Thursday that it would shut down its GeoCities free Web-hosting service after paying about $3 billion for the unit in 1999.
GeoCities isn’t accepting new accounts and will close later this year, Yahoo said. GeoCities, Yahoo’s second-biggest acquisition behind Broadcast.com Inc., lets users design personal websites to show off photos, promote local clubs or publicize business services.
.. As reported by the LA Times.
So let’s see, Geocities was a place for people to: ” design personal websites to show off photos, promote local clubs or publicize business services.”
It’s a good thing that Myspace and Facebook came around; we didn’t have a place for people to post their photos etc …
The only real difference between Geocities and more modern social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter etc …) , is that now you have built-in tools to tell people about your crappy content – the ‘connecting’ that everyone is so excited about.
So, what’s the bottom line?
You can’t make a profitable business out of the blather of the masses. Let’s face it, 99.99999% of the content on social networking sites is not monetizable because it is:
- Too crappy
- Too personal
Add to that, that the social networking audience is at best fickle, ready to bolt to the next social networking site at a moments notice. I already see it with Facebook nerds I know, who are already moving over to Twitter.
My bottom line:
Only a fool of a company would invest any serious money to buy an audience that will eventually move on … like a heard of roaches, looking for their next free meal.
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
April 30th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Hi Stefan,
Maybe I am way ahead of everyone… or way behind everyone! I have about 20 twenty Twitter accounts, most of which are active, none of which just there to get followers, I’m not an internet marketer (though some would say otherwise). Whilst Twitter is my favourite social network, I have started getting back into MySpace a bit lately, though I still use Facebook as that is where most people I know are. I know few people who are actively on MySpace now but with “Profile 2.0″, it is very easy to create a highly customised profile, far more customised than Twitter or Facebook could ever be and with more music and video, and I don’t let it auto-start since not everyone wants that. See my page on MySpace as an example, it just uses one of the templates that are now built-in with minimal customisation.
Take care,
Ian
May 5th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
wow, 3 billion dollars down the drain!
I remember those days when internet stocks were hundreds of dollars per share and everyone jumping on the bandwagon to invest . I missed my opportunity for a fifty cent per share company in October 1998…the price surged to 10 dollars per share.
Man..I missed those days. I wish I started web designer/programmer in the 90’s or collecting domains. I missed out on the gold rush days.
Where do you guys think the next “boom” or gold rush will be on the internet?
May 6th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Hi Juice,
I too remember those crazy days. I recall sitting in my friends server room, where he was running his small web hosting business, and we were talking about how one day the Web would probably grow into a huge thing.
… I almost went on a domain buying spree; so many domains were available at the time, many of which within a few years sold for millions. Yep, I missed the boat too.
The next boom? Hmmm … well, we are now in (what I would say is) the 7-8th inning of the social networking bubble – and like all bubbles, I think it will pop sometime soon. That said, I have no idea what is next. Someone suggested to me that we are now entering the lull that we saw just after the crash of the .com bubble – so it may be a few years before the new wave becomes apparent.
Stef