Facebook is a sell-out, no doubt (the metaphor intended). Yeah! The founders of Facebook have created a second world, which share demographics with the real world, that makes it next in population to the earth, the world we all live in. The difference is the physicality of the earthly world, and the virtuality of the Facebook world.
The physical world and the Facebook world share certain common features.
Interactions: The physical world engenders interactions across boundaries, among the various countries, regions, and peoples. Facebook also creates platform for interactions among peoples.
Habitat: The physical world is a habitat for close to 7 billion people of different colors, races, languages, and religions. Facebook is also a habitat for over 800 million people of different colors, races, languages, and religions.
Transactions: We transact businesses in the physical world, just like we transact business in the virtual world of Facebook.
Socialization: The physical world provides us various platforms for socialization, just like the Facebook.
Globalization: Like the physical world has shrunk into what is now known as the global village, the world of Facebook, for the same reason, has also broken down the barriers of boundaries and distance. We are all now as far away as a click.
These features are the reasons we continue to exist in the physical world. We are able to interact, cohabit, transact business, socialize, and engage ourselves across territories. Particularly for marketers, the opportunity for transaction in a territory of over 7 billion people who are easily reachable across boundaries due to globalization, is one they cannot afford to play with.
The same reasons make Facebook compelling for anyone who seeks to interact, socialize, transact business, and engage with people. A population of 800 million people, with the above characteristics, comes next to the population of world. If the world offers over 7 billion possible consumers, Facebook also offers over 800 million possible consumers. If marketers wont play with the market the physical world provides, he should not take the world of Facebook for a joke.
Lanre Issa-Onilu
virtualviral 