How Facebook has now become mainstream, almost pervasive, is a recurring thought after seeing three examples of how that is during the course of this weekend.
The first example was a hand-written poster outside a used car dealer in Sandhurst proclaiming "See us on Facebook." If I hadn’t been driving my car at the time, I would have taken a photo and posted it to the Signs of Social Media group on Flickr.
The same with a pub on the outskirts of Bracknell with a "Be our friend on Facebook" sign by the roadside, spotted as I turned the corner on a roundabout.
Examples like this, while pretty common in the US, are still a rare sight in the UK, certainly outside large cities like London.
I encountered the big one, though, while queuing in the checkout at Tesco – next to the mobile phone card and iTunes top-ups, pay-as-you-go SIM cards and insurance leaflets (the days are long gone where all you found at the supermarket checkout were sweets and chocolate), a display rack containing pre-pay top-up cards for Facebook Credits, the virtual currency you can use to buy virtual goods in games and applications on Facebook.
Perfect positioning for such items – ideal impulse purchases.
With Facebook membership passing another milestone last week – the social network reportedly now has more than 600 million members worldwide, up from 500 million just a few months ago – and the fact that public attention in the UK is being focused on Facebook through activity like the police advertising appeal on Facebook as part of their hunt for the murderer of Joanne Yeates, it isn’t really surprising that you’re beginning to see people in all sorts of businesses and activities using the social networking service as some kind of element in their marketing and promotion, to build community or stimulate public action in some way.
Much more to come, undoubtedly.
14 responses to “Facebook in the mainstream”
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Neville Hobson, Neville Hobson, prblogs, mo' stash and others. mo' stash said: Facebook in the mainstream http://bit.ly/eoiAd7 […]
Facebook in the mainstream — NevilleHobson.com: How Facebook has now become mainstream, almost pervasi… http://bit.ly/hCv4iW #facebook
Sign of the times: Facebook in the mainstream | @jangles http://ow.ly/3AWBy
RT @marketingwizdom: Sign of the times: Facebook in the mainstream | @jangles http://ow.ly/3AWBy
Facebook in the mainstream — NevilleHobson.com: How Facebook has now become mainstream, almost pervasive, is a r… http://bit.ly/fY4WCo
Facebook in the mainstream — NevilleHobson.com: How Facebook has now become mainstream, almost pervasive, is a r… http://bit.ly/hO7YBF
Facebook in the mainstream — NevilleHobson.com: How Facebook has now become mainstream, almost pervasive, is a r… http://bit.ly/hLnSLg
Facebook in the mainstream — NevilleHobson.com http://bit.ly/g4VuZM
Yes – I’ve noticed the same in my travels recently too. FB groups popping up everywhere. Where it felt more like a personal tool six months ago, more and more businesses and community groups of all sizes are now grabbing hold. Ironic that Zuckerberg fell prey to his own product when the w/e hoax story spread on FB! Wonder how it will play out vs LinkedIn which, until pretty recently was THE key place for the business/corporate world to be and be seen, certainly in the UK.
Facebook has become mainstream. Great examples by @jangles http://bit.ly/f1LWOc #facebook #tesco
RT @psigrist: Facebook has become mainstream. Great examples by @jangles http://bit.ly/f1LWOc #facebook #tesco
Facebook in the mainstream.http://bit.ly/eEFCrY
Sign of the times: Facebook in the mainstream | @jangles http://ow.ly/3AWBy
RT @marketingwizdom: Sign of the times: Facebook in the mainstream | @jangles http://ow.ly/3AWBy