Facebook Is Like a Chair

Yes, a chair. When I posted this video on Facebook, along with "a chair on which a billion people now sit," one of the wittier people among my 'friends' (in the FB parlance) commented, "More of a settee then?" I was amused. But in all seriousness, a billion people:

The social network hit the one-billion mark on Sept. 14, the company said. But the news was not released until an orchestrated announcement Thursday morning, when Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder and chief executive, appeared in interviews with “The Today Show” on NBC and with Bloomberg Businessweek magazine. Mr. Zuckerberg also posted a brief announcement on Facebook.

“Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life,” it read. “I am committed to working every day to make Facebook better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able to connect the rest of the world too.”

But reaction to new advertising features is mixed, as Josh Constine writes of Promoted Posts:

Facebook is becoming a critical one-to-many communication medium for people. Often we’re just sharing fun things that we don’t desperately need eyeballs on, but other times a better news feed position could really help. If I’m trying to sell all my possessions before moving to Thailand, Promoted Posts could be a cost-effective way of making sure more friends know about my garage sale. Raising money for charity or looking for bone marrow donors are some other clearly positive applications.

On the ad above, David Haglund thinks it's disingenuous, and the vague analogies only serve to amplify the message that Facebook is the furniture of your life:

Which is fine, of course, as a promotional campaign. But let’s not pretend it’s all about “connection,” or “what makes us human” (another Zuckerberg line). The ad is called “The Things That Connect Us,” and it ends on these implausibly grandiose lines: “The universe, it is fast and dark and makes us wonder if we are alone. So maybe the reason we make all of these things is to remind ourselves that we are not.” Maybe that’s why Adam Sackler makes chairs, but it’s not the reason most of us sit on them. And it’s not the real reason they’re the chief symbol in this advertisement. They occupy that important position so that Facebook can convince you its service is not a new thing that just arrived a few years ago and might be supplanted a few years from now and might even do some things you don’t like. No. Facebook, the ad implies, is fundamental, and unassuming, and simply a part of everyday life. Like a chair.