Print media is enduring an existential crisis. Digitalization makes it dependent on social media for promotion and distribution, and that is a vulnerable position.
Facebook announced on Monday it was taking another stab at becoming an online market. MarketPlace will help members find and sell things within the network in a Craigslist sort of way. It is a free service that will match buyers and sellers, and let them work out the details from there. At first glance it is classic Facebook: Identify a market easily serviced by its network scale, build engagement and eventually monetize. Cool. Unfortunately, true success will kill what is left of local advertising, and undermine content outreach to print media.
In fairness, Facebook didn’t create the revenue problem for print media. Craigslist, Monster, Zillow, Cars.com and others have been plucking away at print media’s golden goose for a long time. Sales have already fallen about 77% from 2000 to 2012, the most recent year for which data are available. Facebook would bring the relative safety of its 1.7 billion member, closed network of friends, family and acquaintances. That would be a compelling alternative to fuzzy Internet message boards.
And this time the social network is making a concerted effort to make it all work. MarketPlace is getting prominent real estate on the Facebook iOS and Android mobile applications. After being hidden away in the Groups tab, it will replace the Messenger button, located just above the home button on all smart phones. Navigation is simple, too.
“Marketplace opens with photos of items that people near you have listed for sale. To find something specific, search at the top and filter your results by location, category or price,” writes Mary Ku, a product manager “When you find something interesting, tap on the image to see more details from the seller, including a product description, the name and profile photo of the seller, and their general location.”
MarketPlace will use your phone’s camera to collect and pin pictures of things you might want to buy and sell. It will also use Facebook Messenger so you can haggle in real time if that is your thing. It’s all integrated and well thought through.
Right now Facebook is not taking any cut of the transaction. Then again, that is not its style. It prefers to monetize after engagement hits critical mass. Given its location and how much thought has been sunk into MarketPlace, it’s hard to see how it fails. Though one millennial I discussed the idea with recoiled at the idea of selling to strangers in an environment where it is so easy to discover intimate details about each other. She prefers the anonymity of Craigslist. Good point.
It is too early to tell if Facebook’s predatory nature will ultimately be self-destructive. However, it is a very bad time to be dependent on local advertising sales
