1. Auctions: Ebay could be in for a tough time if Facebook decides to add a ‘social auctions’ feature. There is big money to be made of course and Facebook’s base of over 600 million people means that they will never be short of the next used iPad to be auctioned off. Of course they will use Facebook Credits as the currency for the options.
2. Voice Calls: Can Facebook be the Skype killer? Facebook could offer a Social Voice service that could simply mean tougher times ahead for Skype and a lot more money for Facebook.
3. Shopping: Social shopping anyone? Currently there are fledgling attempts by many companies to try and sell products directly off Facebook Pages but it is inconvenient and clumsy. Facebook will certainly look for more ways in which it can make Facebook credits popular. Creating ‘Facebook Shops/Stores’ with features that make shopping social and fun could give Amazon a run for it’s money – or maybe Amazon will just open a store front on Facebook as well.
4. Paid Apps: iOS of course had massive success with the App Store. Facebook could be working on a similar model where developers could choose to sell apps using Facebook credits as currency of course and Facebook getting a cut from every app sold.
5. Music: They have already started selling movies. What stops them from selling music – watch out iTunes!
6. Pages: Brands spend thousands and even millions trying to build a large community of fans and nurturing the same. What if Facebook starts charging a thousands dollars a year for some premium Facebook Page features. I am very sure thousands of brands will happily pay up. A robust Analytics solution could be just one of the many premium features possible.
7. Private corporate networks: Could the Facebook network be replicated within organizations where all discussions and engagement are closed and secure. This would be a viable alternative to the variety of ‘employee communication platforms’ that companies use.
8. Transactions: Once Facebook credits takes off what is there to prevent Facebook from taking a swipe at PayPal and trying to dominate the online commerce market ( a lot of which may happen on Facebook Shops anyway!)
9. Deals: Watch out Groupon! This cannot be far away.
10. Paid Mail service: Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail Storage – all charge around $20 per year for email service. Many may switch to Facebook once this service is available!
11. Photos: Facebook photos was one of the first ‘killer apps’ of Facebook and contributed massively to its growth. Could it provide additional services for printing pictures , personally designed albums and gifting? Sure it can!

Have more ideas for Facebook to make money? Share in comments please.

“Our records indicate that you are currently the admin of a Facebook Page with a large number of fans, Tickled By Life To ensure a positive user experience, we require admins of large Pages to confirm their affiliation with the brand, business, person, or entity that their Page represents.”

A clean up is obviously a great move as there are a large number of ‘non official’ pages out there claiming to represent brands and companies. I cannot help but wonder if this move along with the recent launch of ‘Community Pages’(which will surely continue to be free)¬† is a precursor to Facebook asking customers to pay up for the privilege of running those pages.

Should Facebook charge page admins? I i think they should. In many cases Facebook pages have become an integral part of the brand’s communication strategy and it is only fair that if the brand is benefiting, it should be ready to pay for the privilege. One could argue that Facebook still makes money off pages because of the advertising opportunity that more pages create (Admins advertise for fans and fans interaction with pages creates for advertising inventory for Facebook)

It is most likely however that Facebook will introduce a new ‘premium’ category of pages and admins of large pages will be able to upgrade.

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The statement struck a deep chord of identification with me as I experience it everyday. My son who is experiencing the very best and worst of teenhood at 17 is the self-proclaimed champion of teenagers. Facebook was his independent fiefdom till my wife discovered it and shortly thereafter I also signed on.

Recently he made a dire prediction that this would mark the migration of youngsters away from Facebook. He believes that Orkut lost its young members because older users were overpopulating the social network. Interesting perspective! I am waiting to see if his prediction would come true.

Meanwhile I was struck by the depth of the feeling with regards to oldsters venturing into the youngsters” domain!

I recall being a rebel and usually one without a cause in my teenage years. However I don’t recall having any such youngster space which could be or was violated. At best the school/ college culturals could be termed as a youngster’s zone. Also, our oldies a.k.a our parents were not too keen on participating in such events.
So, what is the key difference between the generations and how do we bridge and manage the great divide?

I often refer to my generation as the bullet speed generation. We went from AIR, Doordarshan to DTH and from the black rotary phone to I Phones in a space of 3 odd decades. We grew up conditioned by thrift, waiting one’s turn, patience, joint living, joint spaces, so on and so forth.

Whereas youngsters today are born with a remote in one hand and a mouse in the other. Possibly with a Bluetooth handsfree tucked in the ear, too! They cannot imagine a context where one would book a scooter and the delivery date was celebrated in the neighbourhood or that you had to book a trunk call and wait to be connected!

This generation was born with computers, personal space, youth spaces, youth icons and so on. They take the business of being young very seriously. The moot point is that what happened to people like me? Why am I in Facebook?

My perspective is that we are seeing too many things that are great fun and enjoyable and want to be a part of the scene. Having grown up in a relatively deprived context, the child or rather youth inside all of us wants a second chance in this fabulous new environment. It’s almost like Alice in Wonderland.

For the youngsters, the context today is a part of their evolving environment whereas I am wonder struck and want to experience this as much if not more. This has a dual implication. On one hand we are demonstrating that one can be young at heart and experience life regardless of age. I hope the youngsters of today grow old without letting go of the child in them. However, the downside is that most such indulgences are largely materialistic and usually consists of superficial interfaces. It has very little reinforcement of core values.

The concern is whether we are actually setting an example that should not be followed.