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App.net is shutting down

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Re: App.net is shutting down

#141

Post by bald »

nicky0 wrote: post #136
bald wrote: post #85

"give it ample time to bake" that was the strategy? having it sell itself?

They did try to sell it for a couple of years but by that point in 2014 I think they had essentially given up already. But the revenue was covering the hosting costs so it seemed sensible to just leave it going, and leave possibilities open.

as an entrepreneur, you should know when it's time to let go. either you continue the start-up a.k.a the experiment, and try to iterate towards a more successful direction - or you shut it down. I think standstill at such a point is really the worst of all options.

Re: App.net is shutting down

#142

Post by riprowan »

puranjay wrote: post #91
reitanqild wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe because the reason people use twitter isn't because it is useful but rather because Either: It is cool. So we must use it. Or: Everyone else is using it so we must use it too. Seriously: 140 characters? Feature? Everyone can read everything? Feature? The two biggest technical "features" of twitter can be arrived at by dumbing down either google+ or facebook 98%.

I have no idea why anyone even likes Twitter. Beyond broadcasting, there is nothing of value on it. Every tweet has absolutely inane replies. You can at least find some half-decent commentary in Facebook post comments, but Twitter is just insane babble

On Twitter you can banter around with famous people you'll never meet in real life and who won't friend you on Facebook.

Re: App.net is shutting down

#143

Post by 72deluxe »

paulcole wrote: post #36
dgfgfdagasdfgfa wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or to put it another way, people care more about money than their own privacy.

Yep. I have a limited amount of money that I need to spend on more essential purchases. I'll happily trade my data/privacy for the right frivolity. When someone starts letting me pay for groceries with my browser history sign me up.

If your browser history consisted of you shopping for groceries, would this be a self-paying system and eternal free food?

Good idea isn't it?

Re: App.net is shutting down

#144

Post by arielm »

milesf wrote: post #54

So to recap, Twitter exploded onto the scene in 2007, the "fail whale" appeared a lot, developers made all sorts of wonderful programs hooked into Twitter, the fail whale disappeared, Twitter started to destroy the app ecosystem, App.net launched to great fanfare in response to Twitter's knuckleheaded anti-developer stance, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber arrived and knocked all the nerds out of the top spots on Twi…

You're forgetting that by the time app.net came up twitter was already "the" platform for this sort of stuff. App.net didn't improve on the model in any way. No awesome features, no additional value. It tried to compete with a service that's already used by millions with terrible branding (starting with the name) and a pricing model that's good for SaaS companies (because they work with business that use the solution to make money) with consumers (who don't).

Having a business model is nice. Having the right business model is essential. Twitter has a business model now, and while it isn't ideal it's in line with their type of product/company and if you scroll through some of the other comments this model isn't all that bad.

Twitter can improve it, but that's a story for a different thread.

Re: App.net is shutting down

#145

Post by rco8786 »

JoachimSchipper wrote: post #83
fraserharris wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twitter finances (TTM): revenue: $2.52B gross profit: $1.49B It's only losing money because of stock grants.

Okay, but don't these stock grants substitute for salary? It's not like Twitter could just stop granting stock with no ill effects.

They pay pretty competitive salaries as well. The stock grants will eventually roll off as people's plans vest and are replaced with smaller ones(new employees have been getting smaller ones for a while already)

Re: App.net is shutting down

#146

Post by acdha »

maccard wrote: post #122
fraserharris wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twitter finances (TTM): revenue: $2.52B gross profit: $1.49B It's only losing money because of stock grants.

> It's only losing money because of stock grants. That's like saying "We're only losing money because we have to pay our staff"

They do pay their staff. Unfortunately the stock compensation was based on the … highly optimistic … story they told around the IPO about growing to be as large as Google or Facebook. Why spend prudently when you're about to be stupid-rich?

Re: App.net is shutting down

#147

Post by sspiff »

reitanqild wrote: post #126
sspiff wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider "everyone can read everything" one of the most important parts of Twitter. I wouldn't use Twitter if it was limited to people I already know, for instance.

But every other platform has that as well. It is just that twitter only has that option.

Yes, but most other platforms don't have the same level of vibrant public discussions.

On things like Facebook, discussions are mostly between friends or "friends of friends", with no chance of an outside opinion, for instance.

Re: App.net is shutting down

#148

Post by mxuribe »

unimpressive wrote: post #25
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #20

This seems like a good juncture to point out that GNU Social, OStatus, and the Fediverse still exist. It still has some believers. Someone wrote a new implementation in Ruby called Mastodon recently, which has a nice interface.

Do you know of a good tutorial on how to quickly get set up on one of these? I would gladly join but have never really been able to figure out how . (I'm looking to self host.)

The following are a little dated now, but still relevant:

* https://www.codeword.xyz/2015/09/27/self-hosting-gnu-social/

* https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/revisiting-open-source-s...

Re: App.net is shutting down

#149

Post by mxuribe »

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #28
unimpressive wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know of a good tutorial on how to quickly get set up on one of these? I would gladly join but have never really been able to figure out how . (I'm looking to self host.)

I would assume it's just a case of installing your chosen software package on a web server. I don't know how easy that is. The more mature packages are probably better-documented in this regard.

I haven't tried mastodon, but gnu social is pretty easy. There aren't enough tutorials on installing it, but I've had luck with the following (which I'm quoting myself from having posted them to previous comments):

* https://www.codeword.xyz/2015/09/27/self-hosting-gnu-social/

* https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/revisiting-open-source-s...

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