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Facebook Doesn't Fit on Your Wrist

Posted by Matt Birchler
— 1 min read

Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch - The New York Times

Facebook was not persuaded [by the Apple Watch as a platform]. Three months after the watch’s release, there is no Facebook app tailored for it. Adam Mosseri, who oversees Facebook’s news feed, said the social network had been studying the Apple Watch but had not figured out how to deliver a good Facebook experience — including the news feed’s stream of posts, photos and videos — on such a small screen.

I think that wearables are going to be a huge thing in the future, whether they be on our wrists, around our necks, or implanted into our corneas (yikes!). If Facebook is a social network that only works on dektop and smartphone screens, then they may need to rethink how they're building out their platform.

Flickr was an awesome photo sharing site on the desktop, but their early presence on smartphones was shit, and Instagram ate their lunch. Microsoft was the king of all computing devices in 2007, but they didn't get a good platform on a phone for years, so Google and Apple are now demolishing them on every platform that isn't a traditional PC.

Facebook may be right about the Apple Watch. I don't think they are, but they could be right that it's not a platform worth investing in yet. But I do think it's dangerous for them to be in a position where they just don't make sense on new, tiny screened communication devices.

Facebook is huge right now, but they could easily become the next sad, old social network if they don't stay relevant on new devices. If smart watches blow up in 2016 and are a huge deal, Facebook will want to be there in a big way. Their current stance of "we can't make it work on that small of a screen" doens't instill confience right now.