You probably heard Facebook decided to plunk down a cool $2 billion for the virtual reality company Oculus. You also might have heard Facebook tried purchasing Snapchat for an obscene amount of money. You also might have heard Facebook purchased Instagram for another insane quantity of cash.
If you follow social media close enough, you know in the past two years Facebook has been on a tear buying up any and every company they feel is either a threat to their existence or a platform which can help solidify their standing as the big boy of social media.
From the outsider’s point of view, Facebook’s streak of buying companies might seem like good business. If looked at it from a competition point of view, Facebook is buying up the companies they feel can help them grow their base of operations. From the business point of view, what Facebook is doing is a story as old as time. Purchase companies to a) make your base stronger and b) ward off any major competition. It’s a good business play.
From the insider’s point of view – the person who follows social media trends – Facebook’s streak of purchasing companies is nothing more than a scared animal acting with its back against the wall. This can’t be said strong enough – Facebook knows every social media brand, in one way or another, threatens their superiority. Zuck and crew understand that every social platform which bleeds users from their news wall is a threat to the continued existence of the platform.
Make no mistake about it; Facebook purchased Instagram to stem a growing threat and to fight off Twitter’s ability to incorporate visual sharing into their micro blogging platform. Make no mistake about it, Facebook tried to purchase Snapchat to steam a growing threat and to solidify their internal messaging service that hasn’t enjoyed great success.
So why the purchase of Oculus? If you listen to Zuck and crew, the purchase is part of the growing trend of social gaming and the ability to share virtual experiences. If you further listen to Mark Z., the purchase represents what Facebook thinks social virtual reality can be. The purchase represents sitting on the couch talking to your doctor in a virtual environment. Facebook plus Oculus represents sharing in virtual experiences with friends from the comfort of your home.
More than anything, the purchase of Oculus by Facebook is a representation of Facebook stemming off possible threats. We suppose Mark Z. believes virtual reality – as predicted many times before – will take off. Again, the purchase is warding off a potential threat.
Facebook isn’t doing anything new. They see the writing on the wall. Zuck and crew is a scared animal with their back against the wall.
You know the old saying, if you can’t beat them, buy them. Facebook agrees.