FB is in decline irrespective of the bad press. I hosted a party this weekend and used a FB event to invite everybody and many people never even saw the invite because they don't have FB on their phone anymore. I might start sending text message invites or emails going forward. Even though they own instagram, they monetize FB much better so a decline in FB is damaging to the business. Other properties like WhatsApp, Oculus and Messenger are still are in the early stages of monetization.
Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
91–100 of 110 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
#92No. I think you're overestimating how much bad press Facebook is actually getting outside the tech bubble. Facebook is going to get done in by the fact that the younger generation doesn't like it, but that process has been underway for a few years now, and it will take many more years to complete (obviously offering Zuckerberg many chances to turn the ship around).
The majority of the new sources I consume are not "tech news."
And I can say that Facebook is receiving negative coverage from all of them. It's standard mainstream fare now.
And it has been so for at least the last 3 months.
Re: Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
#93It's worth keeping in mind that most Americans are not news-addicts and do not regularly read the news. For negative press to filter to the less-engaged public, you would need continuous press for months at a time. (This is also why it's a key political strategy to identify one bad news story about a politician and beat it until it's past dead.) Until that happens, I am not convinced this is bad for facebook. The rea…
>"It's worth keeping in mind that most Americans are not news-addicts and do not regularly read the news."
What is the statement based on? Could you provide a citation for this or any corroborating evidence that this is fact?
Re: Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
#94[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
#95No. In fact now is a good time to pick up some more FB stock as it will almost certainly rebound to the 190s when their latest “fiasco” is out of the public spotlight. FB can easily open new lines of business beyond social networking.
I doubt this very much. Google has proven that success at dominating and monetizing one thing doesn't translate easily to dominating and monetizing another thing. Both are ad companies. Google got lucky with buying YouTube and Android on search ad money. They haven't been able to translate that success into anything else. Facebook probably got lucky with WhatsApp and Instagram. Only time will tell if they can do it a…
Facebook could make a play to become the next craigslist. Hiring workers for services and selling of local merchandise.
Re: Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
#96Was it the end of Windows just because Windows 10 had some hoopla in the press about analytics and its auto-update? No, nobody cared. I mean, it was a meme that everyone made jokes about, even late night talk shows. But nobody cared.
Poor analogy. Most people with Windows computers can’t simply switch to Linux and expect their lives to be the same - they have file formats and IT department setups to maintain - while most people could quit Facebook and see no significant change in their lives, except perhaps for the better. And yes, people do care. I work at a top tier U.S. university, and in our college at least we have so far refused to update o…
When I think about most people I know, they could switch to GNU/Linux very easily, and many do, because what they need from a computer is: Google Docs, LibreOffice, YouTube, and—especially—Facebook.
Switching their operating system is almost completely inconsequential, like they might not even notice after one day of getting used to the new icon for the trash bin. But cut them off from Facebook and they lose context in their organizations, ability to do their job (social media customer relations is a big part of businesses like cafés, cinemas, festivals, etc), easy contact with their family and friends, access to cheap local marketplaces, information about local events, and so on ad nauseum.
Facebook is extremely important for the real lives of hundreds of millions of people. Like, more important than Wikipedia, Google, and Twitter combined.
Re: Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
#97FB isn't going anywhere lol. The HN bubble is so much fun.
The recent swatch of negative press is just amplified 10x in the US because it almost always revolves around Donald Trump being elected. If Hillary won and this same stuff leaked it would be noted but die fairly quickly in the news.
Every old person practically lives on FB 24/7. Most middle age people are on there and will stay due to kids, family, etc. Millenials use Messenger, Instagram, Whatsapp like crazy.
Re: Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
#98I keep thinking about this article[1] whenever I see bad press about FB lately. Relevant portion: "Murdoch hosted Zuckerberg at his Sun Valley, Idaho, villa and expressed discontent with Facebook's News Feed algorithm and its handling of news. He requested Facebook consult publishing partners and be more generous sharing digital ad revenue, or he vowed, News Corp executives would take their dislike of Facebook public…
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Re: Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
#99Facebook is extremely valuable to an enormous number of people. The only thing that will end it is a non-profit competitor a la Wikipedia. This isn't my idea, & I expect to see one of these emerge and take over in the next 1-3 years.
I don't think that will help. The problem isn't Facebook. The problem is us . People. Humans. We're too prone to addictive behaviors. We're too prone to believe what we want to believe. And at least some of us are too willing to exploit a medium to manipulate the behavior of others. A non-profit won't change any of that. People will still become addicted to it; it will still propagate fake news; and people will still…
Sure, human nature won't change.
But when the incentives are aligned differently, the overall behavior of such a system could indeed affect humans differently.
Right now, the goal is eyeballs glued to the page, and thus the algorithms deep down find the most clicky/sticky things to put in front of your eyes.
If the goals were different, such a network might instead encourage different behaviors, like actually not using the site very much, etc.
Probably the best thinking I've seen on this topic is from Tristan Harris: http://www.tristanharris.com More info there.
Re: Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
#100No. I can tell you speaking to my family and friends that are part of the "younger generation", while Snapchat and Instagram have grown in popularity (both Facebook companies) every person within their social network still owns their own Facebook profile. Furthermore it is still the standard to connect people around the world. Ask any person who has made a non-professional acquaintance while traveling to another coun…
Snapchat isn't a Facebook company