It is a fair question to ask whether there is a return to a technology bubble as happened in the early part of this century. The only difference this time may be that it is driven entirely by what technology pundits and the press have aptly named as the social media. Clearly, the leader in this is Facebook which has accummulated more than half a billion users. Charles Arthur of the Guardian cites information here suggesting that it is beginning to plateau in the US, Russia and parts of Europe.
While I claim no special knowledge of the economics and drivers of the industry, I think it is unlikely that the reduction in the pace of growth of new users should worry Facebook's management. To my mind, the strong pace of growth over the last few years is itself remarkable and was bound to reach saturation at some time in the future. The critical thing that social media corporations must worry about now is to build on the back of their strong subscriptions, the appropriate revenue models that begin to show profits. Students of business should keep a keen eye on this industry.
While I claim no special knowledge of the economics and drivers of the industry, I think it is unlikely that the reduction in the pace of growth of new users should worry Facebook's management. To my mind, the strong pace of growth over the last few years is itself remarkable and was bound to reach saturation at some time in the future. The critical thing that social media corporations must worry about now is to build on the back of their strong subscriptions, the appropriate revenue models that begin to show profits. Students of business should keep a keen eye on this industry.
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