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Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

economist.com

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Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#31

Post by bhupy »

tenaciousDaniel wrote: post #22

I still have a FB account because my family is on there, and even then I check it maybe once a month, if that. It's just not in my life anymore. When I do go on there, I have a hard time imagining how anyone could get sucked into it. Sometimes I feel like FB is a kind of scapegoat for social critique. Maybe because it's the largest, but not sure. Personally, it seems like Twitter is a much more malevolent cultural fo…

> Personally, it seems like Twitter is a much more malevolent cultural force

Completely agreed, it's quite impressive that they've managed to remain unscathed in all of this. Every single criticism that one can level against Facebook applies to Twitter ten times over. At least with Facebook's properties, the core use case is still keeping in touch with friends and family. Twitter's only real use-case is providing a soap box to the most outrage-inducing opinions, accuracy or nuance be damned. It's just democratized punditry.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#32

Post by danpalmer »

I think this is fine for Facebook. We've long passed the point where facebook.com was supposed to work for everyone, it's now got some clear demographics that use it, and plenty that don't.

Instagram is the replacement for certain demographics, and is well liked by most in its target market. WhatsApp is another replacement. FB Messenger is another. Even Oculus is a bet on another group.

Facebook-the-company is mostly irrelevant in this discussion as the separate brands are strong enough on their own. They can keep buying/building new brands to target specific demographics and shield them from the positioning (or bad press) of the other brands.

I think the only real risk here is that Facebook becomes a place that its employees don't want to work at, but I'm not sure that'll happen, they can afford to pay enough that enough people won't care.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#33

Post by tomhoward »

shoto_io wrote: post #3

No. That’s what people like us and all the main stream media hope for. But: most people I know don’t have the slightest clue that Insta and WhatsApp belong to the FB group. And even worse: most of them don’t give a shit about the reputation of FB. They just want to send messages and share pictures through those apps.

That was my reaction too, scoffing as I imagined the headline "Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is nearing a reputational point of no return" after the News of the World scandal in 2011 (or any of countless others).

But the sentence that matters is this one: "Facebook risks losing its young, liberal staff".

If Facebook can't attract/keep the best staff (especially hackers/devs/engineers), it can't stay at the top.

Even Microsoft of 1998 didn't become as toxic to solid tech talent as Facebook risks becoming if they keep this up.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#34

Post by reeealloc »

shoto_io wrote: post #3

No. That’s what people like us and all the main stream media hope for. But: most people I know don’t have the slightest clue that Insta and WhatsApp belong to the FB group. And even worse: most of them don’t give a shit about the reputation of FB. They just want to send messages and share pictures through those apps.

That's surprising, they have no intention of hiding that Insta is a FB app. It says Instagram by Facebook when you open it.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#35

Post by wonderwonder »

whitepaint wrote: post #21

I don't really know much about US politics, but could this recent attack on Facebook be a political move and a power grab? Attack FB so they block certain groups / certain topics and promote what the regulators want? I listened to the whistle-blower's testimony and I didn't hear any reasonable solutions (in my opinion at least; I am a software developer myself). Also, it seems there might be some regulations imposed.…

Its US politics so it means nothing will be done and its just a chance for politicians to grandstand in front of an audience and pretend to be lecturing the big bad tech company. Its just theater.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#36

Post by Ozzie_osman »

shoto_io wrote: post #3

No. That’s what people like us and all the main stream media hope for. But: most people I know don’t have the slightest clue that Insta and WhatsApp belong to the FB group. And even worse: most of them don’t give a shit about the reputation of FB. They just want to send messages and share pictures through those apps.

The argument being made isn't that people will stop using Facebook. It's that Facebook won't be able to hire the talent it needs. That's a longer, but more damaging feedback loop, assuming you believe it (the counter argument is they will be able to pay people enough to hire them anyway).

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#37

Post by arvinsim »

bhupy wrote: post #31
tenaciousDaniel wrote: post #22

I still have a FB account because my family is on there, and even then I check it maybe once a month, if that. It's just not in my life anymore. When I do go on there, I have a hard time imagining how anyone could get sucked into it. Sometimes I feel like FB is a kind of scapegoat for social critique. Maybe because it's the largest, but not sure. Personally, it seems like Twitter is a much more malevolent cultural fo…

> Personally, it seems like Twitter is a much more malevolent cultural force Completely agreed, it's quite impressive that they've managed to remain unscathed in all of this. Every single criticism that one can level against Facebook applies to Twitter ten times over. At least with Facebook's properties, the core use case is still keeping in touch with friends and family. Twitter's only real use-case is providing a s…

My guess is that vested interests likes Twitter because they can use it as a tool to direct the mob. Not so much with FB since FB has their own agenda.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#39

Post by metalliqaz »

shoto_io wrote: post #3

No. That’s what people like us and all the main stream media hope for. But: most people I know don’t have the slightest clue that Insta and WhatsApp belong to the FB group. And even worse: most of them don’t give a shit about the reputation of FB. They just want to send messages and share pictures through those apps.

My question is... why do people like us continue to work there? They know what is going on there more than anyone.

Re: Facebook is nearing a reputational point of no return

#40

Post by vmception »

donatj wrote: post #27
efields wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. 73 yo dad is not quitting Facebook anytime soon. He genuinely uses it to find old friends and coworkers and goof around in the comments.

I mean as a 30 something who knows their evil, that’s what I use it for too. I’ve gone to close my account a bunch of times, but for so many old friends it’s my only link to them, I could not bring myself to do it.

You can recreate your social graph at any time by telling it your phone number, or email, or friending the same people.

Any app is doing that and will find other friends on that app with shared contacts. You can even do it in a future FB account.

With that knowledge it is easy for me to delete FB account, even if there are active group chats there.

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