Facebook Messenger Platform • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#21

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:11 PM UTC

nns wrote: post #11

Wouldn't it be wise for Facebook to just replace Messenger with WhatsApp and offer that as a platform?

[deleted]

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#22

Post by striking » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:12 PM UTC

Scriptor wrote: post #20

mooseburger wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's hilarious. Everyone uses WhatsApp for their friend group.

Everyone I know uses Messenger for group conversations. Anecdotes can go both ways. As far as I've been able to tell, WhatsApp is most popular outside of the US.

I think that's because of WhatsApp's availability as a Java phone applet that was cheaper than texting in a number of places.

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#23

Post by pbreit » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:12 PM UTC

I like bots and everything but I wonder if chat's popularity stems from there being a human at the other end?

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#24

Post by state » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:14 PM UTC

hayksaakian wrote: post #8

aaron-lebo wrote: post #6

Facebook disregards your rights as a creator, user, and individual. I've read enough history to know what sharecropping looks like. Tell me how this is different than sharecropping. Why should I build something I don't control on Lord Zuckerberg's platform so I can play the startup lottery? We did this almost a decade ago. Facebook introduced their developer platform and people started giving up their freedoms. This…

The real question is can you get in, win, and get out before any of that matters. If you 'rode the facebook apps' wave you probably made decent money unless you stayed in too long. Another strategy is to build an integration to messenger to get exposure for your totally independant app. For example If i made some pizza ordering ai, i could hook it up to messenger as an additional channel.

The 'real' question is how can we build an alternative platform that doesn't require you to try to 'win' by effectively screwing the people who actually use the stuff you build.

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#25

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:15 PM UTC

state wrote: post #24

hayksaakian wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real question is can you get in, win, and get out before any of that matters. If you 'rode the facebook apps' wave you probably made decent money unless you stayed in too long. Another strategy is to build an integration to messenger to get exposure for your totally independant app. For example If i made some pizza ordering ai, i could hook it up to messenger as an additional channel.

The 'real' question is how can we build an alternative platform that doesn't require you to try to 'win' by effectively screwing the people who actually use the stuff you build.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#26

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:18 PM UTC

mooseburger wrote: post #15

loader wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They showed a graph in the keynote, WhatsApp for one-on-one communication, Messenger for small group communication. So they see them as different use cases.

That's hilarious. Everyone uses WhatsApp for their friend group.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#27

Post by Aleman360 » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:22 PM UTC

cromwellian wrote: post #9

This seems kinda disappointing in capability compared with what you see in WeChat. I was expecting you'd be able to build apps that run from inside messenger, instead of toggle back and forth between native apps, possibly using something like ExponentJS/Reactive-Native, but maybe Apple would disapprove. The WeChat SDK allows apps to run JS from inside WeChat itself. You see this in action in China where you can actua…

First browsers became OS's, now you want messenger apps to become OS's?

How many layers of cruft do we need?

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#28

Post by vr3690 » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:23 PM UTC

I don't get the hype behind bots? When are where was it proved that bots as interfaces can be successful?

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#29

Post by mkagenius » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:24 PM UTC

atonse wrote: post #18

Anyone know what stack FB uses for their messaging platform? I know WhatsApp uses Erlang...

> Anyone know what stack FB uses for their messaging platform?

Initially Erlang. Now C++. [1]

1. https://www.quora.com/Why-was-Erlang-chosen-for-use-in-Faceb...

edit: was quoting wrong part of the op comment

Re: Facebook Messenger Platform

#30

Post by pbreit » Tue, Apr 12, 2016, 6:24 PM UTC

malanj wrote: post #10

Facebook seems to slowly be building out the feature set that WeChat ( https://a16z.com/2015/08/06/wechat-china-mobile-first/ ) has had for ages. It seems like Facebook first set out to capture the whole market, and are now slowly monetizing it fully. WeChat has achieved incredible ARPU (>$7/user/year) through a combination of chat APIs, 3rd party bots and integrated payments Facebook. If Facebook can achieve a simil…

The ARPU # is mis-leading. According to the Economist article, 85% of the revs are from gaming, not "to hail a taxi, order food delivery, buy movie tickets, play casual games, check in for a flight, send money to friends, access fitness tracker data, book a doctor appointment, get banking statements, pay the water bill, find geo-targeted coupons, recognize music, search for a book at the local library, meet strangers around you, follow celebrity news, read magazine articles, and even donate to charity."