Facebook Phone? No thanks.

A colleague and I chatted this morning about the rumors that Facebook will announce its own Android-powered smartphone this week - "HTC First." My question is, why? This is not what Facebook should be focused on – I don’t know how many reporters, analysts or bloggers need to tell them before they understand. Facebook needs to fix or figure out mobile advertising. Then Facebook can work on other (unnecessary) projects. 


It would make a lot more sense for Facebook to partner with Apple, Android, Samsung, etc. to work for better Facebook integration on those devices, instead of creating their own phone that's going to have tough competition in the market from people who are already loyal to their devices - and not because of its social networking capabilities. Honestly, do you need more Facebook integration on your smartphone? The only thing I could think of is that when you upload iOS pics to Facebook, you can’t tag people. Other than that, I don’t really need more integration - and that's coming from someone who dedicates a significant amount of time to social media. 

As my colleague Jess Payne pointed out, this smartphone leak "could simply be a red herring for what they really plan to roll out on Thursday. Could it be their advertising platform? Personally, I can’t think of a reason to switch from my current phone, and I certainly wouldn’t do it solely for social networking."

Maybe this is something that makes sense for Facebook to focus on down the line, but they have bigger fish to fry for right now. That's my PR thought for the day.Would you switch to a Facebook phone?