Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Facebook Getting Their Hands in Yet Another Industry

Six years ago I received an email saying I was invited to join Facebook -- yes, back when you had to be invited to be on the site. After much contemplation I decided to make the big switch from MySpace to Facebook. I remember being so confused and having no idea what to do with the site. It took me a long time to adjust to the site, and as someone who is in love with color I had to learn to appreciate the simple color pallet provided.

Facebook has come so far in the last five-some years. Now anyone can join the network: people, companies, products . . . heck, my cousin's cat even has a profile. Advertisers have caught onto the site's potential and now post ads on sidebars that are user-specific. This is one of Facebook's biggest money-makers, but they have another idea in the works that will make the site even more attractive.

The site is teaming up with Spotify and creating a Music Dashboard. This tool will allow users to listen to their favorite music just like other sites currently available. What sets this music stream apart from the others is that users will be able to view what their friends are listening to in real time. Users will even be able to sync up their playlists and listen to the same songs at the same time.

This is yet another example of Facebook's constant innovation. The Music Dashboard may not directly bring in profits, but it will keep people from going to other sites in order to listen to music. This additional time on the network will expose people to more advertisements, indirectly creating profits. Facebook has done a great job at looking past the immediate results and seeing the big picture -- something everyone can learn from.