The HTC First smartphone marks the first time Android is truly Facebook – a full-fledged Facebook smartphone that combines the leading social networking site with everything you do on your mobile device. It was the first fully integrated smartphone, but not the first handset dedicated to Facebook, with the failed HTC ChaCha and Facebook Salsa heavy phones. This time, Facebook didn’t push the button; Facebook IS the whole phone.
This sounds purely experimental; perhaps why the handset is named “First” instead of another dance move. Rumba or Roomba have become household cleaning tools, so maybe we can call them Swing or Electric Slide. But is it more than just a gamble for the struggling social networking giant and Taiwanese phone manufacturer?
Do I really want Facebook every time I check my phone?
The average cell phone user checks their phone more than a hundred times a day, roughly once every 10 minutes during their waking hours. If this translates to Facebook usage, the average user will see updates (or even ads) more often than just browsing Facebook on their computer for a few hours. In a perfect world, that would be a lucrative situation for Facebook, as advertisers would see it more as an opportunity to reach their target audience. But that’s not going to happen, considering that people go to Facebook to “socialize” and not to browse deals or view upcoming products or services from paid advertisers.
But let’s not get too hasty here: even if we don’t see many ads appearing in our news feeds, social networks can also saturate a user to the point where he or she is looking for something else to focus on. You can only stare at your profile page for so long until you open another browser and see something else. Imagine having it on your phone 24/7: do you want to go through the usual stuff your friends post regularly every time you unlock your phone?
Little late
Again, the idea of having a fully equipped Facebook phone is an option for consumers. However, Facebook is not that big compared to a few years ago. With the rise of other social networking platforms, sticking with just one means removing yourself from your social circle. You can still use the social site’s Android apps, but having a fully-fledged Facebook phone gives off a sense of exclusivity—something you don’t want in the highly social world we live in today. If this idea was conceived back in 2010, maybe it would be a big hit for HTC and Facebook. But nowadays, limiting yourself to just one social circle (even if it has over a billion users) would be unthinkable.
Smartphones Redefined?
In addition to the special HTC First handset, Facebook will also release an Android launcher application called Facebook Home. This means any smartphone can become a dedicated Facebook phone by running the app. But turning your smartphone into a Facebook-only device isn’t practical, because again it goes against what smartphones stand for. Android phones can do a lot of things; with the right set of apps, you can turn it into a business and entertainment hybrid phone. You can play different games, run different productivity programs, and do pretty much anything with them as long as there’s an app for that particular function. Turning it into a Facebook-only phone would be counterproductive, because it seems like Facebook is the only thing you care about in your life. Having a Facebook phone in your office means you’re more into social networking than doing your job. There is a bit of immaturity when you can’t separate your social network life from your real life.
