What’s the future of Facebook email? Your thoughts?
03
OCT
2010
Users of Facebook know that its email feature is a very basic one – inbox, sent, updates (from Pages) and now a search feature. But basically, that’s it.
Facebook should have a full-featured mail product, say stories; that it is working on it is reported from time-to-time. Obviously Facebook wants to further dent Google’s share of eyeballs and time and it would make sense to have a full-feature mail product. Right? Well, maybe – maybe not.
Here are thoughts that cross my mind
- Facebook is trying to move towards more public conversations – virality and privacy don’t get along, and mail is all about private conversations. Also read (The future of Facebook brand conversations)
- Even though Facebook mails now show ads, they are not contextual – people have responded sharply to privacy concerns on Facebook in the past; whereas Google tracks every word written, and serves contextual ads in the inbox, but nobody seems to mind anymore.
- A mail offering would be an evolutionary feature, not revolutionary. I expect something more revolutionary from Facebook.
How can Facebook create further stickiness, take people away from conventional mail offerings and enhance its own mail offerings? Your thoughts?
