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Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

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Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#11

Post by nolok »

salsadip wrote: post #8

I am happy that we have Snapchat and iMessage as competitors to the Facebook Apps. I very much dislike their business practices of sucking up all the data they can get their hands on e.g. during the acquisition of WhatsApp where they had to promise to European [1] regulators to not combine the user data with facebook‘s and then did it anyway. Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature -…

> Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature - it made Snapchat so unique. Now nobody is using Snapchat for it anymore and everybody is on IG instead.

I don't see what's sad about that, if the only thing that made SC unique is a feature that was so easily copied into EVERY FB app (messenger, instagram, even FB itself) then SC was anything but unique.

Ultimately execution is what matters, and snapchat had a terrible app (at least on android) forever.

Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#12

Post by rubber_duck »

salsadip wrote: post #8

I am happy that we have Snapchat and iMessage as competitors to the Facebook Apps. I very much dislike their business practices of sucking up all the data they can get their hands on e.g. during the acquisition of WhatsApp where they had to promise to European [1] regulators to not combine the user data with facebook‘s and then did it anyway. Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature -…

Also Telegram (unless I missed the type of apps you're comparing ? I really only use messaging aspect of all of these)

Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#13

Post by meowface »

nolok wrote: post #11
salsadip wrote: post #8

I am happy that we have Snapchat and iMessage as competitors to the Facebook Apps. I very much dislike their business practices of sucking up all the data they can get their hands on e.g. during the acquisition of WhatsApp where they had to promise to European [1] regulators to not combine the user data with facebook‘s and then did it anyway. Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature -…

> Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature - it made Snapchat so unique. Now nobody is using Snapchat for it anymore and everybody is on IG instead. I don't see what's sad about that, if the only thing that made SC unique is a feature that was so easily copied into EVERY FB app (messenger, instagram, even FB itself) then SC was anything but unique. Ultimately execution is what matters…

The same feature is now also on YouTube, for some reason. I guess short video clips are just what the youth are into these days (Vine, TikTok, stories).

I wonder if they're regretting not taking the 30 billion Google was offering. Ephemeral image/video/message sharing has become a pretty oversaturated market since their popularization of it, and there isn't really that much more innovation that can be done in that area, I think. And it doesn't seem like they're trying other kinds of things beyond ephemeral communication. They may be in a Foursquare-like situation, except Foursquare actually did manage to pivot from a gimmick to more of a sustainable business (as far as I can tell).

Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#14

Post by nolok »

While I have a facebook account I'm not a big user, it's mostly for a few contacts that are only on messenger. I don't look at my "stream" a lot, and when I do it's mostly useless content like meme, self-centered post and whatnot that I personnaly have zero interest in, with maybe 1% of actually interesting thing in between like birth annoncement from acquaintances etc ...

I don't plan to delete my account because I want to keep the ability to be in touch with those few friends, and I haven't reached the point where I want to delete the messenger app, but the main FB/messenger duo just doesn't fill any major need for me.

But two things that struck me recently:

1. When opening my stream just to gloss over, there is A TON of ads. Like, the first 4/5 posts are real, then it's one post one ad one post one ad. And the targeting is abysmal. The only ones that are kind of on target are the amazon retargeting, except in typical amazon retargeting fashion it advertises to me stuff that I have already bought (on amazon no less). At least google has the decency to show me stuff I may be interested in, if vaguely.

2. I'm not sure when this was added to android, or if this is a specific samsung thing, but I had a weird warning that I had never seen before: my phone warned me that messenger, while not being open, was trying to access the "microphone" permission. Kudos to android for blocking it and warning me, so I could disable that permission for good. I can't think of a single reason for that app to do it that isn't super evil.

I'm also 99,9% certain it's not even legal where I live (France), I can't record my customers without asking or warning them on each instance of a conversation and with a clear non hidden message, so I doubt they can do that no matter what's in their TOS.

Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#15

Post by nolok »

meowface wrote: post #13
nolok wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature - it made Snapchat so unique. Now nobody is using Snapchat for it anymore and everybody is on IG instead. I don't see what's sad about that, if the only thing that made SC unique is a feature that was so easily copied into EVERY FB app (messenger, instagram, even FB itself) then SC was anything but unique. Ultimately execution is what matters…

The same feature is now also on YouTube, for some reason. I guess short video clips are just what the youth are into these days (Vine, TikTok, stories). I wonder if they're regretting not taking the 30 billion Google was offering. Ephemeral image/video/message sharing has become a pretty oversaturated market since their popularization of it, and there isn't really that much more innovation that can be done in that ar…

> I wonder if they're regretting not taking the 30 billion Google was offering.

I know this was Google's "we need to turn into a social thing, G+ all the way" era and everything but good god, 30 billion, that figure was insane. Even if you go with "but major social app are worth a lot" just comparing it with how much was paid for whatsapp and instagram makes it even crazier.

Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#16

Post by 0xfaded »

salsadip wrote: post #8

I am happy that we have Snapchat and iMessage as competitors to the Facebook Apps. I very much dislike their business practices of sucking up all the data they can get their hands on e.g. during the acquisition of WhatsApp where they had to promise to European [1] regulators to not combine the user data with facebook‘s and then did it anyway. Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature -…

The reliance on facebook where I live now in Denmark is disgusting. I lived in SV for 4 years, and basically any information of importance reached me by word-of-mouth or mailing list. Craigslist is also used and awesome.

Worst is that information meant for public dissemination, like training times or open event details, are now de facto private and require login. I've gone from logging in once every 3 months to once a week. AND messenger on mobile requires mbasic.facebook.com. /rant

Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#17

Post by nolok »

rubber_duck wrote: post #12
salsadip wrote: post #8

I am happy that we have Snapchat and iMessage as competitors to the Facebook Apps. I very much dislike their business practices of sucking up all the data they can get their hands on e.g. during the acquisition of WhatsApp where they had to promise to European [1] regulators to not combine the user data with facebook‘s and then did it anyway. Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature -…

Also Telegram (unless I missed the type of apps you're comparing ? I really only use messaging aspect of all of these)

I think he meant app that was a competitor on features but ALSO with a significant user base amongst the non-tech non-domain-specific population.

I think Line, WeChat and a few others like that could qualify too, although they all seem very regional.

Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#18

Post by holler »

nolok wrote: post #11
salsadip wrote: post #8

I am happy that we have Snapchat and iMessage as competitors to the Facebook Apps. I very much dislike their business practices of sucking up all the data they can get their hands on e.g. during the acquisition of WhatsApp where they had to promise to European [1] regulators to not combine the user data with facebook‘s and then did it anyway. Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature -…

> Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature - it made Snapchat so unique. Now nobody is using Snapchat for it anymore and everybody is on IG instead. I don't see what's sad about that, if the only thing that made SC unique is a feature that was so easily copied into EVERY FB app (messenger, instagram, even FB itself) then SC was anything but unique. Ultimately execution is what matters…

on the one hand I agree that there’s nothing nefarious about copying a public feature of a competitor, while on the other hand I question if the massive monopolistic network effects of FB prevent new startups from having a chance to scale to a point of being able to adequately compete.

Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#19

Post by salsadip »

nolok wrote: post #11
salsadip wrote: post #8

I am happy that we have Snapchat and iMessage as competitors to the Facebook Apps. I very much dislike their business practices of sucking up all the data they can get their hands on e.g. during the acquisition of WhatsApp where they had to promise to European [1] regulators to not combine the user data with facebook‘s and then did it anyway. Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature -…

> Also sad that they were so successful in copying Snapchat’s story feature - it made Snapchat so unique. Now nobody is using Snapchat for it anymore and everybody is on IG instead. I don't see what's sad about that, if the only thing that made SC unique is a feature that was so easily copied into EVERY FB app (messenger, instagram, even FB itself) then SC was anything but unique. Ultimately execution is what matters…

Snapchat (the app) was the only app which had stories so it was unique by definition. The main problem though is that I’m uncomfortable using Facebook‘s apps because of their disrespect for user’s privacy and data.

Also, Snapchat’s app has a unique feel (and works performant enough at least on iOS) which makes it more pleasurable to use than lets say WhatsApp which is the most popular in Europe

Re: Facebook Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

#20

Post by salsadip »

nolok wrote: post #17
rubber_duck wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also Telegram (unless I missed the type of apps you're comparing ? I really only use messaging aspect of all of these)

I think he meant app that was a competitor on features but ALSO with a significant user base amongst the non-tech non-domain-specific population. I think Line, WeChat and a few others like that could qualify too, although they all seem very regional.

Right. I just don’t really use telegram that’s why I didn’t mention it, although of course it is a good app! It is just doing exactly what WhatsApp is doing (feature wise) minus the big user base, which is it‘s downfall
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