Is Facebook becoming the Tesco of the Internet?

If everyone who had a Facebook account voted for The Social Network in the upcoming academy awards, the movie would walk away with every Oscar for which it is nominated. After all, currently more than 600 million of us are active users, including almost half the US population.

But all is not as it may seem in Facebook-world. What began in 2004 as a way for each of us to connect with old and new friends online, share embarrassing photographs we wish we hadn’t posted and let everyone know in real time what we’re doing, where we’re going and how we’re feeling has clearly become more than just that.

Spam has become the latest retro brand to implement a social media strategy to tell the brand's story and widen its appeal. The 70-year-old canned-meat brand will focus on promoting the ‘character of the brand’ through coupon distribution, competitions and special events, centred on social media.

It is against this background that Facebook is fast becoming the Tesco of the Internet; a ubiquitous, benign presence that is infiltrating every aspect of our lives. The sheer number of brands using Facebook is fast changing its character from being a site intended for social-connection towards what is almost a self-contained version of the Internet – a one-stop shop for life.

The beauty of Facebook was always that it was the product of its users; we controlled the content. Somehow we were in charge. By inviting such overt commercialism, is there a risk to its success when we conclude the Facebook is so all pervading? What will be particularly interesting is whether and how Facebook users kick back against this.

Brands are still trying to work out how to concentrate their efforts online. A social media presence is only really useful if it creates a genunie two-way conversation which works for both parties. Greggs do this particularly well, welcoming sandwich ideas and then putting them into practice. And the key – don’t be too slick about it. Social media was always intended as user-generated content and brands need to play by the same rules to be authentic and also need to judge if they are actually attracting new fans or merely engaging with consumers who have already been won over.

Twitter is, to an extent, still in the user-controlled stage from which Facebook appears to be emerging. Twitter saw how users dictated the features it wanted from the platform, which led to the creation of features hashtags and retweets. Individuals and brands seem to cohabit more naturally on Twitter, where brands seem less willing to overtly sell to consumers and more content in watching what they say and observing how they act. Perhaps it is this form of engagement that will lead to the happiest online relationship for brands and consumers alike.