With all the recent announcements by Facebook on its new advertising model. I was thinking about how to establish a monetary value for a Facebook profile. Right now there are several calculations based on the number of FB users and the valuation based on the recent MS equity purchase. This all equates to a fixed cost-per-user, but I was thinking about something different.
I was thinking that the value should be variable based on the influence that a user has. The FB "influence factor" would be based on the number of friends I have, the number of apps I subscribe to, my groups, number of interactions, etc. My "influence factor" is a ranking of how involved I am in FB and hence a reflection of how FB "sticky" I am. The more sticky the better because the more time I spend in FB means that there are more opportunities to show me ads. Also a large number of friends means that my profile home page is prime real estate for product placement messages that my friends will view when they check up on me.
I guess I'm not that valuable. There is a FB application at http://apps.facebook.com/valuation that will calculate how valuable your profile is worth. Mine only comes out to $16 dollars.
It is an interesting concept because over time the high value FB user would also be considered an "influencer". These people would be more valuable to advertisers because of the social net they would cast over other Facebook users that they are connected with.
Taking this a step further you can almost imagine a "ranking" system that would calculate the pecking order of all FB users. Those at the top would be like Frequent Flyers with a lot of miles. They will probably get all kinds of perks and other inducements that we can't even imagine yet.
This whole line of thinking leads me to the concept of certain Facebook users eventually getting "paid" for being on FB. If your profile has a high FB-valuation, then it seems like people will start knocking on your door. "Hey if you just promote this product on your profile we will give you this...."
Who knows what "this" will be? Eventually it will come out what "this" is, and it is sure to happen. Your FB profile will be like the price of a stock. You will have a FB P/E ratio, and your valuation will fluctuate on a daily basis based on your marketing performance to-date.
And with profile "fame" a new industry will be born. You will be able to hire a Facebook PR agent that will work on your behalf to score the best deal with the various marketers that will want your profile endorsement and access to your friends list.
It is deja-vu-all-over-again. First we had web pages, then came web pages with advertising, then we had blogs, now we have blogs with advertising. Recently we had profiles, and now we have profiles with advertising.
One thing seems to be left out of the Facebook system for targeting ads. That is: "What is my ability to actually buy something?" Do I have a high FB value because I have a lot of free time on my hands to build my profile, and because of this not a lot of personal funding? Maybe I can get a high FB-valuation just because I have a lot of friends. I wonder if someone will eventually become a millionaire based on marketing dollars leveraged from their FB friends list?
It seems like even the ability to judge your financial resources is within the reach of FB based on the data in your profile. Right now you type in your name, your area of residence, and your birth date. With that information it seems like it would be possible to do some quick background research on "you" and figure out exactly who you are financially. From there it is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump to figure out what type of ads match up with your discretionary budget.
If FB actually knew the "real me", I'm sure my profile value would double. From $16 to at least $32.
I was thinking that the value should be variable based on the influence that a user has. The FB "influence factor" would be based on the number of friends I have, the number of apps I subscribe to, my groups, number of interactions, etc. My "influence factor" is a ranking of how involved I am in FB and hence a reflection of how FB "sticky" I am. The more sticky the better because the more time I spend in FB means that there are more opportunities to show me ads. Also a large number of friends means that my profile home page is prime real estate for product placement messages that my friends will view when they check up on me.
I guess I'm not that valuable. There is a FB application at http://apps.facebook.com/valuation that will calculate how valuable your profile is worth. Mine only comes out to $16 dollars.
It is an interesting concept because over time the high value FB user would also be considered an "influencer". These people would be more valuable to advertisers because of the social net they would cast over other Facebook users that they are connected with.
Taking this a step further you can almost imagine a "ranking" system that would calculate the pecking order of all FB users. Those at the top would be like Frequent Flyers with a lot of miles. They will probably get all kinds of perks and other inducements that we can't even imagine yet.
This whole line of thinking leads me to the concept of certain Facebook users eventually getting "paid" for being on FB. If your profile has a high FB-valuation, then it seems like people will start knocking on your door. "Hey if you just promote this product on your profile we will give you this...."
Who knows what "this" will be? Eventually it will come out what "this" is, and it is sure to happen. Your FB profile will be like the price of a stock. You will have a FB P/E ratio, and your valuation will fluctuate on a daily basis based on your marketing performance to-date.
And with profile "fame" a new industry will be born. You will be able to hire a Facebook PR agent that will work on your behalf to score the best deal with the various marketers that will want your profile endorsement and access to your friends list.
It is deja-vu-all-over-again. First we had web pages, then came web pages with advertising, then we had blogs, now we have blogs with advertising. Recently we had profiles, and now we have profiles with advertising.
One thing seems to be left out of the Facebook system for targeting ads. That is: "What is my ability to actually buy something?" Do I have a high FB value because I have a lot of free time on my hands to build my profile, and because of this not a lot of personal funding? Maybe I can get a high FB-valuation just because I have a lot of friends. I wonder if someone will eventually become a millionaire based on marketing dollars leveraged from their FB friends list?
It seems like even the ability to judge your financial resources is within the reach of FB based on the data in your profile. Right now you type in your name, your area of residence, and your birth date. With that information it seems like it would be possible to do some quick background research on "you" and figure out exactly who you are financially. From there it is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump to figure out what type of ads match up with your discretionary budget.
If FB actually knew the "real me", I'm sure my profile value would double. From $16 to at least $32.
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