Facebook Shutting Down – What Will You Do?

Bye Bye Facebook, Hello… What?

Over the last few days, the internet has been rife with rumors that Facebook was going to shut up shop and disappear into the ether. Of course, it’s all complete rubbish and Facebook have come out themselves and said so, but it poses an interesting question: If Facebook shuts down, what will you do? Now, some of you may shed a tear, some may dance a jig and others may simply seek out other ways to keep in touch with friends and family. The biggest problem however is, what are these other platforms for keeping in touch and do they really tick all the boxes Facebook currently does?

Alternatives to Facebook

If you start to look at credible alternatives to Facebook, there are very few… which is scary in itself. Facebook really is a monopoly, which 500 million people will testify to and trying to find something to replace it is pretty impossible at the moment. As with any social networking site, there are alternatives out there, Bebo, Orkut, Ning, MySpace (blurgh) and so on, but none really deliver on all counts, as Facebook currently does. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably love and hate Facebook at the same time. The restrictions, privacy issues, rigidity of the platform and more mean that it causes problems for those who want to really pull it apart and completely customize it, however, there’s not much else out there that works in the same way. The sheer extensiveness of Facebook take-up is so grand that not being part of it makes you on the outer most of the time. When it comes to social networks, Facebook is the Godfather and everything else is a little bit like the horses head in the bed.

How Would Facebook Closing Affect Your Life?

So think about it…. how would Facebook’s disappearance affect your life? It’s so ingrained in our way of life here at Social Ignition that it would seem like a large void had been created if it were to shut down as the rumours suggested earlier this week. Facebook is easy to use to create events, chat to customers, reach out to potential influencers and friends, share information, post photos and more. Facebook shutting down would make it much more difficult to truly engage online and that is sad. Despite the obvious irritations of Facebook, seeing it go would definitely impact on how we share information freely online. What would Facebook shutting down mean to you?