Comments on: Would you drop 10 friends for a hamburger? http://blogs.gartner.com/nick_gall/2009/01/21/would-you-drop-10-friends-for-a-hamburger/ A member of the Gartner Blog Network Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:06:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Nick Gall http://blogs.gartner.com/nick_gall/2009/01/21/would-you-drop-10-friends-for-a-hamburger/comment-page-1/#comment-4718 Nick Gall Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:05:40 +0000 http://blogs.gartner.com/nick_gall/2009/01/21/would-you-drop-10-friends-for-a-hamburger/#comment-4718 The commodification of friendship. I love it. The commodification of friendship. I love it.

]]> By: Brian Burke http://blogs.gartner.com/nick_gall/2009/01/21/would-you-drop-10-friends-for-a-hamburger/comment-page-1/#comment-4680 Brian Burke Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:27:13 +0000 http://blogs.gartner.com/nick_gall/2009/01/21/would-you-drop-10-friends-for-a-hamburger/#comment-4680 The word "Friend" takes on an entirely new meaning on Facebook. Since the acquisition cost of a Facebook friend is very low, the market value of those friends is also very low - 1/10th of a hamburger. My kids (both university age) have 450-500 friends each on Facebook. While certainly a few of those Facebook friends are true friends (in the traditional sense) there are many hundreds more that have a low relationship value. While this is an amusing social experiment, there may in fact be a real business model in buying Facebook friend lists. If people are willing to drop their Facebook friends for 37 cents each I’m quite sure those same people would also be willing to sell their Facebook friends contact details to an enterprising marketer - at a price. The word “Friend” takes on an entirely new meaning on Facebook. Since the acquisition cost of a Facebook friend is very low, the market value of those friends is also very low – 1/10th of a hamburger.

My kids (both university age) have 450-500 friends each on Facebook. While certainly a few of those Facebook friends are true friends (in the traditional sense) there are many hundreds more that have a low relationship value.

While this is an amusing social experiment, there may in fact be a real business model in buying Facebook friend lists. If people are willing to drop their Facebook friends for 37 cents each I’m quite sure those same people would also be willing to sell their Facebook friends contact details to an enterprising marketer – at a price.

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