Can Facebook still Dominate?

We were primed for Facebook’s F8 conference this year more than ever, the hype of Facebook bots, live video, virtual reality and the idea of an optimistic future. 

Facebook has been the most addictive website of a generation and it's doing all it can to keep its place of relevance moving forwards. In a world where the internet is monopolized by American corporations, I sometimes wonder if that's a digital world of freedom, or one where capitalism and democracy itself is hijacked by techno-corporations, global multi-national empires and corporate interests. 

With Facebook Live, Periscope is in serious danger. With Facebook Messenger bots, it's arguable even the Apple app store could be disrupted. With Facebook at Work, LinkedIn and even Microsoft could be impacted. 

Amid data that suggests Facebook users share personal information less, it's no great wonder why. Facebook video now dominates feeds. Facebook is now a meta-site for following News and brands and not just our personal network. 

However, there is one scary statistic, out of 7.13 billion people on the planet, a reported 1.55 billion are active FB users, that's over 1 in 5 people on the planet. So if Facebook is no longer a fun place for images or transparent sharing necessarily, what is Facebook's future good for?

With Twitter and LinkedIn on the seeming decline, is Facebook next or can it stay relevant? Does it even have the years left, to suppose it will be a leader or even a major player in VR and AI? While you ponder that, here are 10 things you didn't know about Facebook. 

In a world where people want to reinvent themselves every few months online and are increasingly leaving social media for more integrated SMS platforms where they can do more and talk on their own personal darknet, one wonders indeed what Facebook is destined to become? Facebook is a bit like a childhood friend who changed a lot in ways you could not have predicted. Facebook is a bit like the embarrassment of youth, when we compared ourselves to other people because Facebook created a horrible self-esteem challenging form of voyeurism. 

Sharing of personal news fell 21% in 2015 on Facebook. 

Personally here is what I find Facebook still useful for, to some extent: 

• Facebook Groups (organic reach and notifications) 
• Video content
• IM Chat, the interface that shows you who is online is still useful. (Yeah my eyes just go to the stupid green dot on the right). 

While Facebook still kills the competition in reach and minutes online a month per active user, and now Facebook can analyze users based on their emoticon reactions (a fun way to do sentiment analytics on users for free).

Facebook however does some things still horribly wrong: 

• The "fake" memories that suggest people from our past have untold significance 
• The sensation that my value is derived on how much "engagement" I receive on my updates (this is actually less threatening on Instagram). With less people using Facebook for personal stuff, this means less engagement for those of us who still are leading to a downward viral spiral. 
• The condescension of the platform to believe it will always be relevant. 

Facebook can get 7 out of 10 new things wrong, and still do well. If that's not a monopoly, I don't know what is. What Facebook features do you find user friendly or engagement killing?

Do you think Facebook can still dominate?