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Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

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Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#101

Post by derefr »

codegoblins wrote: post #97
Maro wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a great time on FB/Messenger. It's a tool, it's up to everybody to use it in a way that is a net positive for them. I have friends/acquintances in 10+ cities, and it's a great way to keep in touch. As you mention, this "way" is very different then if we would meet in person, but that is out of the question, as we are separated by 1,000 - 10,000 km. The alternative, on average, is not to hear anything about the…

If only there were other ways to send messages to people over the internet

It's the discovery mechanism that's unique to Facebook.

Other messaging services: tell someone your username on it (when you ever happen to run into them again, I guess.)

Facebook Messenger: search for their name on Facebook, find the one with the right profile picture, hit "send message."

Facebook is the modern-day White Pages, except for the entire planet.

And that's the part that makes it so hard to "quit Facebook": you're essentially erasing your entry from said White Pages, so people that want to connect to you by name can no longer do so (unless you're famous enough for Google to pull up your Twitter when people search your name; or you know enough about SEO for people to find your personal-brand website/blog when people search your name.)

Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#102

Post by Mindwipe »

sli wrote: post #82
minieggs wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've chosen to act w/ private accounts, muted accounts, muted words, and blocked accounts. Personally, I find muted words a powerful feature but perhaps my story is a bit different as I don't find myself targeted by hate too often (ever). I'm hesitant to believe kicking accounts off the platform is a great solve. Does any social media platform take part in shadow banning? How has that worked out?

> Does any social media platform take part in shadow banning? How has that worked out? Reddit does, but I don't know how well it actually works since everyone is aware of it and can easily detect when they've been shadowbanned by simply using a second account.

Even Reddit's CEO has said that their shadowbanning approach is terrible and he wants rid of it but they haven't had time to build anything better yet.

Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#103

Post by Yizahi »

Yizahi wrote: post #95
Maro wrote: post #64

Based on my brief time at FB (in 2016-2017), FB is not evil. MZ is trying to do the right thing, overall. Using this as a major piece of positioning/propaganda is not going to work for Spiegel. Also, if they ever want to make money, they'll be playing the exact same game as FB. That's going to be tough, as by now Snapchat is just a feature (of FB). Also, I can tell you, FB employees are laser focused on executing and…

There is unfortunately a big disconnect between C-level people and regular users. C-levels believe, truly believe, that they are creating a good thing with spying(1) on users to create more and more customized web experience and of course custom ads. They also consider ads as good in general. (Some) users think that instead it's an uncontrolled full speed descent towards mountain cliff. Other users just aren't thinki…

Here is a more detailed opinion on (1) written by Bruce Schneier:

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/03/metadata_surv...

Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#104

Post by bduerst »

Maro wrote: post #100
bduerst wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about where Facebook has wholesaled your information to companies like Cambridge Analytica? You could say they "learned their lesson" and will focus on ads now, but this pattern of behavior is exactly why people distrust Facebook and find it shady.

Re "Facebook has wholesaled your information": FB does not sell user data (it doesn't need to, it makes so much on ads). CA gained user information on people who installed one of their FB apps whose purpose was to specifically get user data, and additionally because of a shitty choice FB made, it allowed apps like this to also access friends-of-friends data, afaik. Additionally, there was no monitoring in place to de…

Oh no, Facebook sold 50M users worth of data to Cambridge Analytica through API access.

The fact that FB didn't charge more to make it comparable to ads revenue is their own fault. The user data access was a feature, meant to entice more companies like CA to use Facebook APIs.

Again, this flagrant violation of privacy is why people distrust Facebook, because they have proven they will fork over user information wholesale if it means continued company growth.

I take it you work at Facebook, right?

Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#105

Post by newswriter99 »

sevensor wrote: post #9
newswriter99 wrote: post #5

Takes three paragraphs to get to the answer: Instagram stories. Snapschat is busy trying to remain relevant as Instagram one-ups it again and again. Other than teenagers using it to sext, Snapchat is largely useless compared to Insta.

Seems like the bigger theme in the article is that the company is being run by a child. Edit: I should perhaps expand on this. TFA repeatedly mentions Spiegel's tender age and his inexperience, and it points out that one of his core management techniques is a thing he picked up in prep school.

Not that it matters but I just burned through a couple of bios about him and wow, for a 28-year-old he looks 40.

The stress of executive leadership I suppose . . .

Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#106

Post by Benjammer »

Analemma_ wrote: post #35
blauditore wrote: post #17

> Snap employees complain about his dictatorial management style and penchant for secrecy. This is not too surprising to me. I remember how he actively worked towards preventing Snapchat from existing on the windows (phone/mobile) platform, purely due to Microsoft hate. This went as them going out of their way to targetedly fight third party windows phone apps until that indie dev gave up disappointed. That was prett…

Everything I've read about Evan Spiegel indicates that he's really cargo-culting trying to be Steve Jobs, with no real understanding of why Jobs was successful.

>“Why would I go around the company and just chat with people? Like that would be so awkward”

He sounds like a 17 year old, not necessarily that he has no idea what he's doing, imo. Just seems super immature a lot of the time.

Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#107

Post by Redoubts »

Maro wrote: post #100
bduerst wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about where Facebook has wholesaled your information to companies like Cambridge Analytica? You could say they "learned their lesson" and will focus on ads now, but this pattern of behavior is exactly why people distrust Facebook and find it shady.

Re "Facebook has wholesaled your information": FB does not sell user data (it doesn't need to, it makes so much on ads). CA gained user information on people who installed one of their FB apps whose purpose was to specifically get user data, and additionally because of a shitty choice FB made, it allowed apps like this to also access friends-of-friends data, afaik. Additionally, there was no monitoring in place to de…

> Overall, I think the most accurate thing to say is that CA was "scraping" user information

That sounds like the least accurate way to describe API access.

Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#108

Post by scrumbledober »

buboard wrote: post #83
phobosdeimos wrote: post #27

Nobody trusts this sector. Was the same for doctors a hundred years ago. Now doctors take an oath and lose their license if they are caught doing something unethical. Maybe the tech sector will get there one day too. Until then assume hostility.

> Was the same for doctors a hundred years ago. Now doctors take an oath and lose their license The Hippocratic oath is 2200 years old.

I don't really care what oath the doctor took (especially considering the actual wording of the hippocratic oath) but I definitely take comfort in the medical board's ability to revoke their license.

Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#109

Post by petra »

Maro wrote: post #81
samstave wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The correct phrase, IMO, would be "cumulative shadiness" for FB... Individually, and within groups, the work of the employees and teams at FB is nothing short of amazing (and apple, google, etc)... cumulatively though? The nature of these companies are not in the best interests of individual users, and when looked at the power and impact the company as a whole has over any individual in specific, is pretty obviously…

I have a great time on FB/Messenger. It's a tool, it's up to everybody to use it in a way that is a net positive for them. I have friends/acquintances in 10+ cities, and it's a great way to keep in touch. As you mention, this "way" is very different then if we would meet in person, but that is out of the question, as we are separated by 1,000 - 10,000 km. The alternative, on average, is not to hear anything about the…

Ideally, we will connect to far away people using tv size video conferencing , that enables eye-contact and the viewing of full body langauge - maybe creating something similar to the emotional experience of meeting people(according to research). And the tech is here , just a bit expensive.

But instead we use a tool,text, that creates very little emotional connection(according to research), addicts people in all sort of ways(intentionally), manipulates them via ads, and creates all sort of negative psychological effects.

Re: Nobody Trusts Facebook, Twitter Is a Hot Mess, What Is Snapchat Doing?

#110

Post by majormajor »

clay_the_ripper wrote: post #88
venantius wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're missing the point. It's not about MZ's motivations or even how FB thinks about things internally. It's about the perception by significant numbers of people - and, critically, their elected representatives - that FB is fundamentally shady. There is a very good chance the path we're on ends with FB and potentially all of the social networks being considerably more regulated than they are currently, and…

Although this seems like a popular opinion here, the only thing that concerns me about Facebook is the potential for the govt to get access to the data fb has on me. I actually trust fb with my data because I know that they don’t care what I do online and no one will ever look at it individually. They are just going to Hoover up as much data as possible to target me with better ads, but it’s not like a human being is…

So you're betting Facebook will always be on top of the world.

Otherwise in ten, twenty, however many years, when Facebook is churning through ideas to stay profitable and relevant, "selling our user's data" becomes a very attractive one.

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