Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Theoretically rich

We know what Facebook is worth to it's owners: a vast shit-ton of filthy lucre (warning: advanced economic term). It's why their founder openly mocked those who gave him their trust, talks openly about how he doesn't believe in privacy, and Facebook itself is catching heat for its privacy issues: that information is worth money. Fat stacks of cash.

But what is Facebook worth to you, someone with a fan page who is trying to leverage shady privacy holes to your own benefit? I mean other than as an effective method to know too much about your friends, allow your family to know too much about you, bitterly stalk ex-girlfriends, or creepily stalk attractive people you've never met but you'd like to consider killing? Two fitty? Naw, tree sixxy.
According to a new study released by social media management company Vitrue, Facebook Fans are valued at $3.60 a piece in earned media for big brands. When scaled to Fan Pages with one million Fans, that equates to $3.6 million annually — and Vitrue says that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
That's right, each fan you have is potentially worth $3.60 to you. How do you actually monetize that?

/throws things on floor, runs out of room, jumps into car, and screeches off in cloud of dust

OK, no one knows that or will ever know that. It's the paradox of the internet. But hey, if you have fans, that's a theoretical $3.60 in your pocket, and theoretical money is what fuels our countries biggest financial institutions. See how that worked out?

OK, you're probably just a regular Facebook user and you don't have fans, seeing as all you do is post up too much information about what you did last night and "funny" pictures of your cat in a sombrero. What are your friends worth? They're priceless... which is another way of saying worthless. You don't have theoretical money in this scenario, Facebook does. Yours.

So if you want to be a real Intarwebs trillionaire like me and Sean here at TB Industries, get some fans. I bet the Can This Pickle Get More Fans Than Twilight guy is rolling in it.

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