Facebook Plans to Compete with PayPal
No surprise that Facebook developed Credits using a team of former PayPal folks that shows a clear path to allow micropayments on Facebook and compete directly with PayPal. The New York Times recently reported that “Facebook began testing its virtual currency, called Credits, more than a year ago with some popular games on Facebook. This month, Credits passed a milestone when it became the exclusive payment method for most of the games created by Zynga, the No. 1 developer of Facebook applications.” Facebook enlarging its payment services is an interesting development that seems a likely evolution for Social Media.
Facebook – The Movie
A recent article in the New Yorker described Mark Zuckerberg, and not surprisingly, he is not very happy about the pending October 1st release of movie “The Social Network.” Facebook is still trying to decide whether fight back or not. Of course, whether the movie’s an actual portrayal of the history of Facebook is beside the point, now that Hollywood is involved. Social Media is unlikely to entirely change the stripes of Hollywood.
I think it's no coincidence that you are seeing Zuckerberg making a 100 Million donation to Newark Schools (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-24/facebook-s-zuckerberg-announces-100-million-newark-school-gift-on-oprah-.html) and announcing it on Oprah. Even allowing a tour of his house which is unprecedented. He's trying to take some of the wind out of the sails of that movie.
In regards to Social Media and Hollywood, I think they will and are starting to see the power of using social media as a promotion and message tool. One study said Twitter chatter can predict with up to 97% accuracy how the box-office outcome will be on movies.
Good topic!