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Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

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Re: Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

#161

So, how would one grow a competitor at this point? Appeal to underserved users?

You have to target a niche where you can build a product that is 5x-10x better, to convince users to spend their time on your superior product instead of Facebook.

If you wanted to substantially undercut Facebook, there are only three possibilities.

1) Facebook drops the ball. Basically they screw-up their platform big time, in any number of ways, and make the product so incredibly bad people are desperate to leave. Then you have to have the right product at the right time to catch that exodus, vs other competitors like Google etc.

2) Technology inflection erodes Facebook. For example, had they continued to ignore mobile, they would have died like MySpace. Zuckerberg's move to heavy-mobile was equivalent to Bill Gates's call to arms regarding the Internet tidal wave memo in 1995 [1]. Zuckerberg is young enough and still at peak motivation (seemingly), it'll be very hard to catch him fully off guard on a major inflection.

3) Take a category of audience away and expand it. ie knock down the first bowling pin, one that you can hold and grow outward from. It's key that you be able to hold the ground you take. College students are the obvious target still and always will be. Facebook is very much not cool at this point, but Instagram still is (mostly), that enabled Facebook to kill Snapchat and retake the ground they lost. This third one is always viable and very hard sustain, there will always be a strong/tempting argument for selling at a high price after achieving success in taking ground (eg if Snapchat had sold for $10b or $20b to Facebook instead of going public). The monopoly will almost always pay up to continue their dominance, in the Standard Oil model, so far as they can and avoid anti-trust problems.

[1] https://www.wired.com/2010/05/0526bill-gates-internet-memo/

Re: Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

#163
post #110

Say what you will about Facebook but I can't deny that I use their products to connect with others. Facebook messenger and groups along with Facebook events has been a part of my life in better ways than AIM, Hangouts, or BBM ever was. Congratulations to them for hitting 2 billion.

Mainly because everybody else is using it.

Re: Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

#164

As insane as this number is, and it really is an incredible achievement, I'm left feeling Facebook hasn't delivered much real net positive value to the world just yet. Politics are in disarray. More people are "connected" online but more people than ever feel isolated in some way and mental health issues are on the rise. Highlight reels of your friends living a seemingly amazing life leave people feeling like they've…

Reminds me of this other thread from a post about a CRM for keeping track of personal associations:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14498633

Facebook has a huge opportunity to help people stay connected with those closest to them -- and keep track of a wider circle of friends and family members -- in ways that actually evoke empathy and care, rather than jealousy and attention-seeking.

But I suppose that would run counter to their advertising funnels...

Re: Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

#165

As insane as this number is, and it really is an incredible achievement, I'm left feeling Facebook hasn't delivered much real net positive value to the world just yet. Politics are in disarray. More people are "connected" online but more people than ever feel isolated in some way and mental health issues are on the rise. Highlight reels of your friends living a seemingly amazing life leave people feeling like they've…

I assume the point is Mark Zuckerburg's three cubic acres of money.

Re: Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

#166

As insane as this number is, and it really is an incredible achievement, I'm left feeling Facebook hasn't delivered much real net positive value to the world just yet. Politics are in disarray. More people are "connected" online but more people than ever feel isolated in some way and mental health issues are on the rise. Highlight reels of your friends living a seemingly amazing life leave people feeling like they've…

> what's the point

I can think of two answers to that.

(1) Why does there have to be a point? How many of the other companies we discuss here have a point, other than the enrichment of their founders/investors? Personally I loathe the "financial performance is a company's only duty" attitude (which is contrary to the actual law BTW), but if we're going to say companies should have a point then we should apply an equal standard. Facebook should have a point. Google should have a point. Netflix should have a point. $random_startup should have a point.

(2) Every time Facebook or Google or anyone else does try to use their huge troves of data and powerful algorithms to be any more than a passive conduit for others' attempts to influence society, they get slammed for it. Some of that is happening right here, right now, in these comments. How do we reconcile "try to do good" with "don't meddle"? We need better answers for that, not just criticism.

Re: Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

#167

As insane as this number is, and it really is an incredible achievement, I'm left feeling Facebook hasn't delivered much real net positive value to the world just yet. Politics are in disarray. More people are "connected" online but more people than ever feel isolated in some way and mental health issues are on the rise. Highlight reels of your friends living a seemingly amazing life leave people feeling like they've…

When was Facebook about improving society? Oh sure they'll do that as long as it doesn't jeopardize profits, but after all we've learned about their social engineering, social experimentation, pattern recognition and various mechanisms to maintain engagement, is it really right to pretend they are any different than any other large corporation? The dollar is the endgame, and if improving society becomes a profitable endeavor, then and only then is it safe to say they will pursue it.

Re: Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

#168

As insane as this number is, and it really is an incredible achievement, I'm left feeling Facebook hasn't delivered much real net positive value to the world just yet. Politics are in disarray. More people are "connected" online but more people than ever feel isolated in some way and mental health issues are on the rise. Highlight reels of your friends living a seemingly amazing life leave people feeling like they've…

> what's the point I can think of two answers to that. (1) Why does there have to be a point? How many of the other companies we discuss here have a point, other than the enrichment of their founders/investors? Personally I loathe the "financial performance is a company's only duty" attitude (which is contrary to the actual law BTW), but if we're going to say companies should have a point then we should apply an equa…

Good points well made.

I think it's safe to say that Google and parent company Alphabet have legitimately, and for the most part positively, changed the world. Just their search facility without all the other "fluff" gives me access to more information than I ever dreamed possible when I was still using Microsoft Encarta as a teenager. They definitely lose points for lacking in transparency and shoddy advertising practices though...no question.

I suspect it's very very difficult to do the right thing by the world and keep your shareholders happy. Shareholders care about profit, and that is very rarely aligned with doing good - especially on a global scale! With all due respect to everyone on HN, which of course includes me, I doubt the person who has the answer to that billion dollar question is sat reading this thread.

Re: Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

#169

As insane as this number is, and it really is an incredible achievement, I'm left feeling Facebook hasn't delivered much real net positive value to the world just yet. Politics are in disarray. More people are "connected" online but more people than ever feel isolated in some way and mental health issues are on the rise. Highlight reels of your friends living a seemingly amazing life leave people feeling like they've…

When was Facebook about improving society? Oh sure they'll do that as long as it doesn't jeopardize profits, but after all we've learned about their social engineering, social experimentation, pattern recognition and various mechanisms to maintain engagement, is it really right to pretend they are any different than any other large corporation? The dollar is the endgame, and if improving society becomes a profitable…

[deleted]

Re: Facebook Hits 2 Billion Users

#170

As insane as this number is, and it really is an incredible achievement, I'm left feeling Facebook hasn't delivered much real net positive value to the world just yet. Politics are in disarray. More people are "connected" online but more people than ever feel isolated in some way and mental health issues are on the rise. Highlight reels of your friends living a seemingly amazing life leave people feeling like they've…

When was Facebook about improving society? Oh sure they'll do that as long as it doesn't jeopardize profits, but after all we've learned about their social engineering, social experimentation, pattern recognition and various mechanisms to maintain engagement, is it really right to pretend they are any different than any other large corporation? The dollar is the endgame, and if improving society becomes a profitable…

> The dollar is the endgame...

Is that not equally true for just about every tech company we discuss here?

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