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Instagram daily use surpasses Snapchat

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Re: Instagram daily use surpasses Snapchat

#61
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get it. It's not like users are forced to use these applications. If users like Instagram more than Snapchat, they're bound to use it longer (which the article seems to imply). Hence, the metric.

See "Hooked" by Nir Eyal which is all about how to get people addicted to your product. Hence time glued to app metrics.

Related/more recent: "Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked" by Adam Alter back in March | https://amzn.com/dp/B01HNJIK70

As mentioned here: The relationship between social media use and well-being | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14082130

Re: Instagram daily use surpasses Snapchat

#63
post #5

What do people think about "minutes per day" as a metric for success? I think it represents a fundamental misalignment of goals between users and the company. By this metric, the more of your waking life that can be taken, the better.

You are complaining on a very non personal forum that peoples lices are more "taken" using social media...

It's social media dude.

Hackernews is a almost 90% a timesync of people argueing pointless arguements while stroking their digidicks...

Re: Instagram daily use surpasses Snapchat

#65
post #58
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get it. It's not like users are forced to use these applications. If users like Instagram more than Snapchat, they're bound to use it longer (which the article seems to imply). Hence, the metric.

If Google intentionally slowed its search results by 10%, would people not spend more time on the site? Perhaps even to the tune of 10%? But would people suddenly love Google 10% more? As a more explicit example, Facebook used to allow you to type a friend's name into the search bar on desktop, and a card would come down (with other possible people too you could select/down-arrow to) so when you hit enter you would g…

I'm convinced that Facebook's algorithmic newsfeed is deliberately filled with things they know I'm not interested in because the time it takes me to scroll past them increases "engagement".

EDIT: And creates more ad slots, obviously

Re: Instagram daily use surpasses Snapchat

#66
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Google intentionally slowed its search results by 10%, would people not spend more time on the site? Perhaps even to the tune of 10%? But would people suddenly love Google 10% more? As a more explicit example, Facebook used to allow you to type a friend's name into the search bar on desktop, and a card would come down (with other possible people too you could select/down-arrow to) so when you hit enter you would g…

I'm convinced that Facebook's algorithmic newsfeed is deliberately filled with things they know I'm not interested in because the time it takes me to scroll past them increases "engagement". EDIT: And creates more ad slots, obviously

And also likely uses psychological techniques to keep you checking as much as possible e.g. behaviorism.

Re: Instagram daily use surpasses Snapchat

#67
post #58
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get it. It's not like users are forced to use these applications. If users like Instagram more than Snapchat, they're bound to use it longer (which the article seems to imply). Hence, the metric.

If Google intentionally slowed its search results by 10%, would people not spend more time on the site? Perhaps even to the tune of 10%? But would people suddenly love Google 10% more? As a more explicit example, Facebook used to allow you to type a friend's name into the search bar on desktop, and a card would come down (with other possible people too you could select/down-arrow to) so when you hit enter you would g…

Just a small reaction to your premise that slower search results would lead to more time spent on site:

> https://doi.org/10.1145/2600428.2609627

> Impact of Response Latency on User Behavior in Web Search

> Query response latency. :

> In [18], the authors exposed a commercial search engine’s users to response time delays of varying magnitude and observed the impact of different levels of delay on users’ long-term search behavior. They observed that the users who were exposed to higher time delays issued fewer queries than they usually do. Interestingly, the effects were shown to be persistent in the long-term even after the response latency had returned to the original levels.

I think that to increase user time on their website, search providers do well to try and improve search result latency.

Re: Instagram daily use surpasses Snapchat

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> with "snap stories" from news sites and even stuff they curate themselves. That has to be even more depressing if Instagram users are still using the IG app more with the effort SNAP is putting into the content.

The problem is that Snapchat Discover is totally bollocks. I'm a mid-20's guy and 90% of the content I see in it is either about the Kardashians or stuff like '10 things you totally hate about your bra'. There is absolutely zero targeting of that content and unfortunately it's not even neutral 'everyone will like this' content. It's 90% for teenage girls.

Difficult to target when you have no user data and your app fundamental can't integrate it in. They're counting on SnapMaps to be their savior in terms of advertising data.

I see Discover turning into a fix of local discovery options and general nationally curated stories

Re: Instagram daily use surpasses Snapchat

#69
post #5

What do people think about "minutes per day" as a metric for success? I think it represents a fundamental misalignment of goals between users and the company. By this metric, the more of your waking life that can be taken, the better.

"Time on site/in app" is a strong indicator of revenue per user for apps that monetize through ads, and a fairly well correlated to time spent across all active users.

I think advertising is a misalignment of goals between user and company, full stop. And if time on site is a way to realize more revenue from advertising, the creators of the platform will engineer ways of increasing time on site, and the further down the brain stem they can get with this objective, the more success they'll find, and they'll spend less effort retaining that.

Large ad-supported online networks do this on a scientific level, and it's hard for engaged users to break free. I quit Facebook on January 1 and there are still multiple times per day that I open a browser tab when bored or frustrated and type 'f' thinking I'll go to Facebook. They're in my brain stem.

Really, anything that is used as a means to improve revenue by exposing users to more ads is misaligned with the users' goals.

Re: Instagram daily use surpasses Snapchat

#70

I really can't get over how poor I find Snapchat's UI/UX to be, and I don't _think_ it's because I'm old. But I second-guess it.

I think this is part of why most people end up leaving. Instagram is more interesting to check and its ui is significantly better.
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