Facebook has been through the mill in recent years - it's fought off fierce competition from new platforms and is doing its best to remain at the forefront of social media.
In the last 12 months Facebook has probably taken solace in the fact that Twitter seems to be on the decline, and it is using this time to incorporate some of the key features of other popular platforms.
In December 2016, it started to roll out Snapchat-esque geofilters - or as Facebook calls them, 'Frames'.
Two months later it has confirmed that it is looking to branch out into the jobs market - a niche that LinkedIn stands in alone.
Facebook has continued to be the platform that people turn to to announce life announcements but it has quickly been drowned out by the likes of Twitter (when it launched, at least) and Snapchat.
The clever acquisition of Instagram in 2012, means that it is only really Twitter, LinkedIn and Snapchat that remain realistic market competitors.
"Facebook's camera frames work almost identically to Snapchat's geofilters, a competing app that Facebook has already begun to clone aspects of in Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp."
Source: Business Insider
However, the bigwigs at Facebook are probably not too concerned with the competition, given that they've been working hard in the background to develop a series of spin-off apps, services and programmes, to ensure that Facebook remains a part of our daily lives.
The incredible success of the standalone Messenger app - which you don't even need a Facebook account to access - stands as a testament to how Facebook is willing to fight - and is capable of winning - the battle against its rivals.
Most SMEs are aware of Facebook's powerful targeting and advertising capabilities, so it's no surprise they're using this to develop a Jobs tool, in addition to Facebook's existing capabilities.
"While businesses can create job openings on Facebook for free, they must pay to boost postings through targeted campaigns in news feeds. The feature also gives Facebook one more reason to keep users on the social network and by extension, serve more ads. Job postings will appear on the company’s new ”Jobs” bookmark on desktop and mobile and on Facebook’s Jobs page, in addition to news feed."
Source: Forbes
Jobs aren't the only new area of the market that Facebook Inc is looking to target, with somewhat incredible news that Facebook is also looking to take on YouTube and other online video portals, for a share of the music industry!
Facebook has even gone as far as to try and compete with the music industry, according to Bloomberg:
"[Facebook Inc] has redoubled its efforts to reach a broad accord with the industry, according to interviews with negotiators at labels, music publishers and trade associations. A deal would govern user-generated videos that include songs and potentially pave the way for Facebook to obtain more professional videos from the labels themselves."
Source: Bloomberg
Will Facebook ride the wave and last longer than Twitter? Let us know your thoughts on our social media channels!
