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Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy

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Re: Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy

#101
Steve Jobs famously said that he saw the computer as a "bicycle of the mind." He saw technology as a tool to amplify humanity's abilities.

Mark Zuckerberg has chosen to build a "casino of the mind." Facebook and Instagram have been purpose-built to amplify and prey on humanity's weaknesses.

The fact that "Meta" is now trying to make their casino _even more_ addictive to compete with TikTok does not bode well for the world.

Re: Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy

#102
post #71

The key point here is that TikTok is now beating all the US social networks. This may be the beginning of the end for what Silicon Valley calls "tech", but is just ads with social content. Peak Facebook was in Q2 2021.[1] Instagram is losing to TikTok. (If you think the "metaverse" is going to be important in the social space, check out what's happening in China in that area. While the US has been distracted by the N…

What are Chinese companies doing metaverse wise?

Re: Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy

#103

It's interesting that they don't care, it's a Marie Antoinette-esque attitude to their lifeblood, and ultimately what will end their dominance. The truth is they converted a free service into a pay service (the gas-lights creators and businesses into paying for visibility). The visibility, even when paid for is not very fruitful for many as well... If you run a small business like a restaurant in the US, but get 40,0…

That's a great theory. But judging by the number of people I see mindlessly scrolling instagram and TikTok I think they are going to be just fine. I think YouTube might be the one with the problems in the future. The younger generation seems to prefer the 30 second video clips, rather than the longer form YouTube videos. I think at some point Youtube is going to have to start deleting content, or restricting uploads.…

Anecdotal, but I've seen a few people say "I don't really use Instagram anymore" since these changes. For me it's pretty bad, and I'll probably only look at people's reels from now on. They really did just completely butcher the app, and I would bet money on their usership among young people going down over the next year or 2. Of course, older people are still signing up for instagram, so it's possible it just sort of replaces Facebook.

Re: Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy

#106

The infinite growth beast comes for everyone. It's the second coming, again and again, and again. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-comi...

Did you really just post a Yeats poem in response to some feature changes on Instagram?

Re: Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy

#107
post #53

Theory on facebook failure/Google failure to innovate: They have the highest leetcode standards out of FAANG. As does Snap. They hire people that basically memorized computer science algorithms. And so their employees are bookish, not innovative people. Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon do not have the same issues with creating new products. Keith Rabois (top VC), mentioned that FB has always prioritized optimization over…

You really think Google have a failure to innovate? Obviously search was their first, core innovation, but over the years they’ve delivered so many other successful products (many acquired, true, but even those they’ve evolved really well). Off the top of my head: - Maps - AdWords - Gmail - YouTube - Analytics - Translate - Calendar - Sheets - Docs - Drive - Meet - Slides - Drawings - Forms - Trends - Alerts I’m sure…

For context though:

- Maps - 2005

- AdWords - 2000

- Gmail - 2004

- YouTube - 2005, but not founded by Google

- Analytics - 2005

- Translate - 2006 (but with neural machine engine in 2016)

- Calendar - 2006

- Sheets - 2006, but not founded by Google

- Docs - 2006, but not founded by Google

- Drive - 2012

- Slides - 2007, but based on acquisition

- Drawings - 2010

- Forms - Prior to 2014, couldn't find exact date

- Trends - 2006

- Alerts - 2003

Re: Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy

#108
post #88
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When Twitter forced the algorithmic timeline on people, someone tweeted: "Is the algorithm based what everyone else likes, or what I like? Because I hate what everyone else likes, and I don't know what I like."

I don't have TikTok, but for 2 years this is what I've been hearing from people who love it. They figured out a way to show you exactly what you're interested in, without you giving them any specific input There have been many articles about the phenomenon of the "For You Page"[1][2]. But the funny part is Meta sees this and figures - people are looking at videos, we'll do videos. And not - people are seeing what the…

I think one of the biggest things TikTok does is that it shows completely random videos from time to time. I often get videos with 0 views that were just randomly shown to me. So the platform actually has some randomness that can spontaneously find something interesting instead of having people build up a base first.

Re: Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy

#109

All of social media is broken right now. Instagram actively hides pics from my step kids, nephew and niece to show me "reels" from people I don't follow. Last night a photo from my step daughter flickered briefly and then was lost. I couldn't find it again until this morning. I literally can't find their content anymore without scrolling and dodging videos that keep popping up. Youtube broke entirely a few months ago…

I agree that they're "broken" in that they don't work the way I want them to - but they're functioning perfectly normally to maximize profit. I think TikTok kinda broke the dam on this and we see it in more apps now, but it seems like we've found out that people will spend more time on the app when you show them random new people based on their interests compared to showing them just the people they chose to follow.

I think the main solution to this would be some sort of public social media platform that isn't trying to be profitable. As long we we're requiring companies to prioritize profit we're not going to get outcomes that go against that

Re: Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy

#110

Theory on facebook failure/Google failure to innovate: They have the highest leetcode standards out of FAANG. As does Snap. They hire people that basically memorized computer science algorithms. And so their employees are bookish, not innovative people. Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon do not have the same issues with creating new products. Keith Rabois (top VC), mentioned that FB has always prioritized optimization over…

Come on. A decent engineer can pass the programming portion of FAANG interviews in 30-40 hours of study and they take at most 40% of the interview time.

Source: I got offers from 3 FAANGs last year.

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