Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Anyone working at Facebook: what happening at Facebook on Google+?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 95 posts

Re: Anyone working at Facebook: what happening at Facebook on Google+?

#5

Post by blhack »

borism wrote: post #2

Zuckerberg is running around killing animals, just as usual http://theseattlesalmon.com/business-vs-cultural-news/busine...

I never understood the outrage over this. He's advocating ethical farming practice, not going on a killing rampage. The "only eat things I kill" is his way of highlighting the ways that the meat industry is doing the world wrong.

Re: Anyone working at Facebook: what happening at Facebook on Google+?

#6

Post by theblueadept111 »

My opinions are my own and I can't speak for Facebook as a whole (or in any capacity, really, which is why this will forever remain an anonymous post).

I think Google will gain some traction initially, but what we're working on in my group is light years ahead of the Facebook you see and use today, and probably not the same direction that Google is (or can be) heading.

Yes, we've had our stumbles with privacy, but will Google be any better? Any legitimate complaints that I've heard are either something we're resolving or is an inherent problem that any social networking site will face.

Am I worried about attrition of users as Google ramps up? Not really. It's too much work to maintain multiple social networking accounts and at the end of the day, all your profile are belong to us.

Re: Anyone working at Facebook: what happening at Facebook on Google+?

#7

Post by blhack »

I'm going to venture a guess that you're only going to get politically correct answers on a public forum like HN.

Something along the lines of:

"We're happy to have some competition! By the way, did you know that facebook has had something like circles since 2009? Go to preferences and blah blah blah to enable it!"

or

"G+ and facebook fall into different categories and, in some ways, compliment one another! We're happy for google in this, but don't think it will effect facebook."

maybe if they get bold

"We'll be happy to see what google comes up with! Of course facebook employees are encouraged to sign up for the service, if they can get invites! We've heard it's quite the contest to get them right now! The couple of people that have tried it around my office said it was a bit buggy, but it is a good start!"

etc.

Re: Anyone working at Facebook: what happening at Facebook on Google+?

#8

Post by reso »

Facebook's response to Google+ actually took place last summer and last fall. I was an intern there at the time, so I got to see it.

Google Me, as it was known at the time, was clearly Google's first serious attempt at moving into social, and everyone was a little bit nervous. So, Zuck declared "Lockdown" for sixty days. "Lockdown" was a term from Facebook's early days, which meant when they had a serious competitor emerge at a particular school, they would stop everything and redouble their efforts until the new threat was gone.

This time, Lockdown meant removing all the obvious shortcomings from Facebook that Google could possibly beat us on. Since most of these were already in the pipeline, this meant shipping everything, now. For sixty days there was a constant fervor in the office, with fewer meetings, late(r) nights, and many people coming in on weekends. They even extended cafeteria hours.

The results of Lockdown were visible last fall, with the almost-monthly new product launches. New Messages (Titan), High-res photos, the new photo viewer, New Groups, Profile, and several other non-obvious additions were accelerated by Lockdown.

I think it is very indicative of the company's culture that their "response" was so pro-active. As to what they will do now that G+ is out there, I have no idea. Zuck did say to expect an "awesome" announcement next week, so I wouldn't expect them to be quiet.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/faster-forward/post/face...

Re: Anyone working at Facebook: what happening at Facebook on Google+?

#9

Post by reso »

theblueadept111 wrote: post #6

My opinions are my own and I can't speak for Facebook as a whole (or in any capacity, really, which is why this will forever remain an anonymous post). I think Google will gain some traction initially, but what we're working on in my group is light years ahead of the Facebook you see and use today, and probably not the same direction that Google is (or can be) heading. Yes, we've had our stumbles with privacy, but wi…

You may want to rephrase that last sentence. I doubt it was your intention, but it sounds a little arrogant.

Re: Anyone working at Facebook: what happening at Facebook on Google+?

#10

Post by clarkbox »

theblueadept111 wrote: post #6

My opinions are my own and I can't speak for Facebook as a whole (or in any capacity, really, which is why this will forever remain an anonymous post). I think Google will gain some traction initially, but what we're working on in my group is light years ahead of the Facebook you see and use today, and probably not the same direction that Google is (or can be) heading. Yes, we've had our stumbles with privacy, but wi…

" and at the end of the day, all your profile are belong to us."

i think this is the exact sentiment that makes FB vulnerable in many ways. as i user, i dont want a company controlling my personal bits that just shits on the user base with an arrogant attitude "we have your personal info already". What drives internal innovation if everyone goes around thinking "fuck these fish in this barrel"

Post reply on HN