Facebook’s Home’s latest ad strategy is ‘don’t worry, you can turn it off’
Facebook’s Home’s latest ad strategy is ‘don’t worry, you can turn it off’
It’s fair to say that Facebook probably envisioned a little more success and traction than its Home launcher for Android has achieved since its launch in April.
However, we hadn’t realised the company had become so desperate to convince Android owners to give it a try that it would issue a ‘don’t worry, you can turn it off if it sucks’ assurance on its own website.
In a post on the Facebook Mobile feed, which TechCrunch reports appeared in ads on some users’ news-feeds, the company advised users they could get rid of Home whenever they needed some ‘alone time’.
The post read: “Cover feed on the HTC First keeps your friends close by. But if you need some alone time, simply turn off Home and use your phone as usual.”
HTC First and Last
The HTC First, of course, is the first handset to launch with the Facebook Home experience built in, and judging by the commercial reception, it’s likely to be the HTC Last also.
Just this week, the company expressed acknowledged that, for some, the overbearing nature of Facebook Home had put off some Android users.
Speaking at the D11 conference COO Sheryl Sandberg said version one of the app was a ‘love it or hate it’ deal, and said the company or working to make it more appealing to lighter Facebook users.
She said: “For the people who don’t love it, they don’t like how it takes over their phone. They don’t like how the launcher re-organizes the apps they’ve already launched, but for the most part they actually like the two core features we launched which are Cover Feed and Chat Heads. So what we are doing is getting that feedback. I don’t know how long it will take. I think it will be a long road. but we really believe we’re on a path to making phones more social.”
Is there a future for Facebook Home among the masses? Or will it forever be consigned to those Facebook-obsessed smartphone owners who wish to use their device for little else?