OpenSource Connections
Category: Uncategorized
Recently, Facebook released a new look and feel. Over 1 million users complained about the new interface, citing, among other things, that it looks too much like Twitter. Given Twitters 1,689% year over year growth, maybe Facebook thought it was onto something.
I was not surprised, then, to read that Facebook had recently attempted to purchase Twitter. It rejected a $500 million valuation, much lower than its initial attempts at third round VC funding. Perhaps cash in hand was better than Facebook stock in hand?
I think that a few lessons are applicable here for those following the subject:
- If youre looking to be acquired, or, alternatively, to acquire, make sure that your technologies are compatible. Facebooks new look and feel looks very similar to Twitter. Since Facebook cant buy, perhaps it will build, or perhaps its trying to make a conversion of Twitter users less painful.
- When you roll out a new look and feel, give the users the option to revert back to the previous version. Inertia is a powerful force to overcome. We use Google Mail as our mail service, and the website still has an “Older Version” link in its upper menu tab list.
- Beta test with your users. Nothing portends doom like rolling out a brilliant new idea that marketing cooked up without getting a subset of your users–and preferably the thought leaders among your users–to say what they think. Its better to spend a small amount on a test case that fails than to roll it out to your grand audience and pay the price.
Given the apparent haste and backlash with which Facebook has rolled out its new look and feel, it is reasonable to believe that the Facebook purchase of Twitter is still on the table, or its looking to assimilate Twitter users, the poker equivalent of a spite call.