Echo Boom, Not Enough Room?

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The popularity of social networking site Facebook can't be questioned as with 200 million users they have a significant population larger than many countries. If Facebook were a country it would be the fifth most populous in the World. At some point though the balance is going to shift and the growth is going to slow.

Twitter has been getting significant coverage lately and is the mainstream media's current "social media it girl". The microblogging service has been getting equal to if not more press than Facebook lately, so can the startup microblogging service surmount a significant challenge to the social networking giant? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg obviously acknowledges the potential of Twitter and comparisons with the service can be drawn with the recent homepage update.

It's no secret that the number of users over 35, 45 and 55 on Facebook is growing fast - parents. I have already witnessed a negative backlash to parents and relatives communicating on the social networking site over what they believe to be too much information being submitted. Generation X are clearly more reserved when it comes to online status and exposure compared to Generation Y. Will this be the eventual downfall of Facebook with Generation Y moving on to another social networking service to establish themselves away from their peers? Is the perception of Twitter cool enough and well positioned to become that service?

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