Instagram is shifting to videos – users aren't happy • Hacker News Board

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

#341

Post by polio » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 9:52 PM UTC

LionTamer wrote: post #272

asdff wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't blame them tbh. On a whole species level, why are we inventing the wheel hundreds of separate times just to satisfy pedantic legalese? Any alien observing earth would think we are idiots and clearly nothing to be worried about because we do stuff like this, in the name of profits usually, instead of just sharing ideas openly with each other.

How do you think humans should incentivize R&D without allowing for those who successfully deployed R&D to protect their ability to reap the fruits of their efforts? I’m sympathetic and am very interested in the idea of the government creating public goods out of intellectual property on a national level (ie instead of rewarding copyrights/parents the government would buy out the creator and make it free for citizens…

I'd just make the individuals involved rich with a lump-sum payment ($10m, say) and a lot of good press. Then make it public domain.

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

#342

Post by lotsofpulp » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 9:52 PM UTC

labrador wrote: post #315

harrisonjackson wrote: post #308

Instagram's biggest failing in trying to copy Tiktok is their feed algorithm. Tiktok has nailed the delightful "stumble upon" effect of getting users of all ages to keep going to the next and the next video. I don't mind how each new piece of content is paged because the content is better for the format and it doesn't feel clunky when I do want to skip to the next one. Instagram couldn't switch their algorithm becaus…

> Tiktok has nailed the delightful "stumble upon" I didn't understand the appeal of Tiktok until just now when I read your comment. I was a StumbleUpon.com addict in 2006-07. I spent hours a day on it, saw really interesting content and even made some IRL friends. I have no idea why they killed that site. I'll give Tiktok another try.

But back then, I assume the content was 90% original, 10% ads/marketing/brand building, whereas now it is 90% ads, 10% original.

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

#343

Post by lotsofpulp » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 9:53 PM UTC

robotshmobot wrote: post #330

alchemyromcom wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This may be the beginning of the end for what Silicon Valley calls "tech" There's something about the way you phrased this that just made me just realize there's a very real possibility that the internet could turn into television part two. If you think about the most popular platforms, they are mostly video and now the other very popular ones are trying to follow in kind. There's also all the streaming platforms th…

>There's something about the way you phrased this that just made me just realize there's a very real possibility that the internet could turn into television part two. My friend, we're already there.

How? I can enter any URL I want and go to any page I want. Anyone can start a website, and I can effortlessly visit it.

Does not seem at all comparable to being locked into what some bosses at a cable/satellite TV/TV channel company decide you have access to, at the time they say you can access it. With no ability to upload.

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

#344

Post by Zeebrommer » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 9:54 PM UTC

t0mas88 wrote: post #313

biztos wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a huge admirer of TikTok and love to use it -- once a week only! -- but I sort of agree with the US government that it's crazy to give that much of (mostly) your youth's attention to an adversary. However I find it baffling that all the VC in the Global West is unable to come up with a popular alternative, even though it's glaringly obvious[0] what the "secret sauce" is in TikTok and why it works so well. Instead…

> but I sort of agree with the US government that it's crazy to give that much of (mostly) your youth's attention to an adversary. In a way Europe has been doing that for many years. The US does not have any privacy protection of foreigners, the NSA is only not supposed to capture data on US citizens . Only now are we seeing Google Analytics banned in many European countries. But it's a very small step.

That is not nearly the same thing. The US and western Europe have been roughly aligned about geopolitical interests, values (democracy, freedom, mostly liberal, based on a secularising Christian foundation), rules and laws. China is diametrically opposed on all those things.

The cultural influence of the US on Europe is enormous, and the US has often crossed the line spying on European citizens, but the US is not an adversary.

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

#345

Post by Finnucane » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 9:54 PM UTC

robotshmobot wrote: post #330

alchemyromcom wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This may be the beginning of the end for what Silicon Valley calls "tech" There's something about the way you phrased this that just made me just realize there's a very real possibility that the internet could turn into television part two. If you think about the most popular platforms, they are mostly video and now the other very popular ones are trying to follow in kind. There's also all the streaming platforms th…

>There's something about the way you phrased this that just made me just realize there's a very real possibility that the internet could turn into television part two. My friend, we're already there.

5 billion channels and nothing to watch.

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

#346

Post by jsemrau » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 9:55 PM UTC

gdulli wrote: post #47

matsemann wrote: post #11

If at least the algorithm was any good, people might not have complained as much. Like, I only follow sport stuff. Some triathletes, professional bicyclists, skiers etc. What does Instagram then decide to show me? A female cyclist with her zipper down and lots of cleavage, a skier in bikini, ass pics of swimmers etc.. Probably that's the most trending stuff related to my interests, but I follow no accounts related to…

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."

What I like also changes frequently. I think that is the magic of TikTok that they adjust quickly to what I want to see and now like Twitter / YT / etc what I have looked at in the past

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

#347

Post by eruleman » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 9:56 PM UTC

alchemyromcom wrote: post #291

Animats wrote: 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…

>This may be the beginning of the end for what Silicon Valley calls "tech" There's something about the way you phrased this that just made me just realize there's a very real possibility that the internet could turn into television part two. If you think about the most popular platforms, they are mostly video and now the other very popular ones are trying to follow in kind. There's also all the streaming platforms th…

A text-based internet is mostly a relic of low broadband penetration.

Video is more engaging than text for most people.

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

#348

Post by NCC1701DEngage » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 9:57 PM UTC

Ensorceled wrote: post #303

MikusR wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Youtube has a whole section with all the people you follow. https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions all the videos are in reverse chronological order. Twitter has a button with stars where you can select to show only the tweets of people you follow in reverse chronological order. Called Latest Tweets.

Stop blaming users for problems introduced by massive tech companies. Yes, I know how to find my subscriptions, that's how I know the channels I like are dying; they are posting "my channel is dying videos" and only a subset of their users are finding them.

If you're looking to find more interesting content on YouTube you might want to check this out:

https://channelgalaxy.com/id%3DUCcefcZRL2oaA_uBNeo5UOWg/

They have lists of channels by similarity. That one is the list for the Y Combinator channel. You can look up a different channel in the search bar on top of the page.

I've definitely found a bunch of new channels through it, like Yannic Kilcher and pretty much the whole AI section of YouTube. Despite watching stuff like Robert Miles and Lex Fridman YouTube never showed me the depth of the AI section on its own. After I found it the YouTube algorithm started showing me videos in the new areas I was discovering which brought even more content.

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

#349

Post by dont__panic » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 10:00 PM UTC

throwaway_4ever wrote: post #301

dont__panic wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sad that they keep trying to bolt this functionality onto existing apps. Why not leave Instagram and Facebook alone as functional tools with purposes -- posting statuses, photos, keeping in touch with friends and family -- and then create a separate TikTok competitor? And a separate Snap competitor? Is it just because FB's awful awful Snap clone crashed and burned and nobody used it, so they're afraid to launch…

> and then create a separate TikTok competitor? And a separate Snap competitor? They did, it was called Threads and no one used it. https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/17/instagram-will-shut-down-i...

Oh my. I was referring to the earliest attempt, [Poke](https://techcrunch.com/2012/12/21/facebook-poke-app/).

Later, there was [Slingshot](https://www.engadget.com/2014-06-17-facebook-slingshot.html).

And now Threads.

I guess my original comment was unfair -- Facebook does try to launch clone apps. They just don't work!

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

#350

Post by lotsofpulp » Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 10:01 PM UTC

eruleman wrote: post #347

alchemyromcom wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This may be the beginning of the end for what Silicon Valley calls "tech" There's something about the way you phrased this that just made me just realize there's a very real possibility that the internet could turn into television part two. If you think about the most popular platforms, they are mostly video and now the other very popular ones are trying to follow in kind. There's also all the streaming platforms th…

A text-based internet is mostly a relic of low broadband penetration. Video is more engaging than text for most people.

Boggles my mind how. Unless it is an arts and crafts or mechanical or some other hands on video, it is so inefficient to watch someone talk rather than just read the transcript.