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Welcome to the new web.

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Re: Welcome to the new web.

#81

Post by icebraining »

user24 wrote: post #64
donw wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going put put my two cents in, and say that a platform capable of replacing Facebook for discussion and community on the web has already been created. It's called Reddit. Bear with me here, I realize this is probably an unpopular opinion. On Reddit, all content is open -- I don't think I've ever seen a 'closed' sub-reddit available only to members. I'm not sure it's even possible. Yet, in spite of all communities…

but you still have to register for reddit... reddit's owned by conde nast, it's not an open platform. Conde nast could at a moment's notice shut the entire thing down, or put it behind a paywall, or sell your 'likes' to an advertiser. This is a problem common to all centralised solutions.

Nitpick: Reddit is no longer owner by Condé Nast, they are now a subsidiary of the parent company, Advance Publications.

Re: Welcome to the new web.

#82

Post by icebraining »

gbog wrote: post #74
bad_user wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, there is no such thing as too big to fail , however you can say of certain companies that they are too big to fail easily . Facebook was once small and fragile. Not anymore. What changes is the web framework style The changes are a lot deeper than that. The web is increasingly against sharing, against cooperation, against standards. The semantic web dream is dying, replaced by web versions of Microsoft Exchan…

> web versions of Microsoft Exchange. What a nightmare! Hey guys, we are we so pessimistic these times? We should fight instead. - Facebook is annoying but you want to keep in touch? Use one of the many tools allowing you to receive your fiends baby pics without opening Facebook. If no tool suits you, hack another one! (I would love a command line fb, by the way) - Tired of shitty web apps that lost the pure HTTP way…

I don't think the problem most people have with Facebook is the interface, but the lack of control over your personal data.

Re: Welcome to the new web.

#83

Post by tfb »

dissident wrote: post #33
nirvana wrote: post #6

I'm a member of a forum for graduates of one of the schools I went to. In 2007 it was a vibrant and active forum, growing steadily, and straining its hosting account, which constantly had to be expanded. At some point, around 2009, most of the members of this forum got Facebook accounts. That forum is now completely dead. Facebook took all the oxygen out of the site, and it seems like a lot of other sites. Now very m…

As an administrator of an online message board, I concur. Web content is being so efficiently aggregated that some forums turn into the awkward conversation between two redditors: "Check this out!" "Heh, yeah. I saw that." Communities before were usually separated by platforms , because the platforms were not yet sophisticated enough to support vast communities of varying opinions. Now we have a few big players that…

I hope you don't mind a shameless plug, but I believe something like my startup might be this new platform of which you speak: http://loggur.com.

I'm not claiming that my startup in particular will be it, but something like it. Just saying this probably puts me in the category of "just another young whipper snapper who aspires to be the next Zuck"... but I have no desire to do anything like Facebook or Google or intentionally copy any particular model. I just want to do what works (well).

Loggur is clearly an infant at this point and I'm sure the initial impression given by its current presentation of the idea doesn't exactly scream "innovation" or "the next big thing"... but bear with me. I'm starting off relatively simple and will iterate as I get feedback (as is expected of any startup) but the general end result, as I envision it, will essentially be an extremely wide variety of user-editable tools specific to each user and/or community, from communication to productivity and automation - or both. I realize that the current presentation is pretty vague, but that will change after iteration and solid examples. The current descriptions are based on an alpha version which I put together earlier this year to prove the concept.

Re: Welcome to the new web.

#84

Post by bzbarsky »

gbog wrote: post #72
rbarooah wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you expect the 'good-old Google' to come back? They have been steadily moving in a more and more closed direction for years now. What would cause that trend to change?

I don't know if there are so many facts behind your assertion that Google is going in a more and more closed direction. Is it because they took more time than previously to open Android 3.0? It has been settled, right? And we know the reasons. Did they slow down on releasing open-source softwares? Maybe, I don't follow it closely enough to decide. Chromium is still open. They did shut down some APIs, but this is a no…

I suggest taking a look at http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GBSGBbc9UtA/TmexwLaJN9I/AAAAAAAAAK... for an indication of Google's current thinking on "open".

Google isn't as bad as Facebook, yet. But they're not exactly as "open" as many other organizations either.

Re: Welcome to the new web.

#85

Post by hmigneron »

tfb wrote: post #83
dissident wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an administrator of an online message board, I concur. Web content is being so efficiently aggregated that some forums turn into the awkward conversation between two redditors: "Check this out!" "Heh, yeah. I saw that." Communities before were usually separated by platforms , because the platforms were not yet sophisticated enough to support vast communities of varying opinions. Now we have a few big players that…

I hope you don't mind a shameless plug, but I believe something like my startup might be this new platform of which you speak: http://loggur.com . I'm not claiming that my startup in particular will be it, but something like it. Just saying this probably puts me in the category of "just another young whipper snapper who aspires to be the next Zuck"... but I have no desire to do anything like Facebook or Google or int…

The concept of loggur seems interesting, but to be completely honest, I thought the "help us get featured on" written in small characters before the logos of TechCrunch, Mashable, etc. was deceiving in a really lame way.

Re: Welcome to the new web.

#86

Post by quanticle »

donw wrote: post #61
101001010111 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my opinion, such a platform, or several, using an entirely different paradigm, already exist. To overtake Facebook, it is simply a matter of making it as easy to use as Facebook, and Facebook annoyances having reached a breaking point. Whether there is yet sufficient impetus to do the UI work and whether Facebook users are ready to move on to the next thing is another question.

I'm going put put my two cents in, and say that a platform capable of replacing Facebook for discussion and community on the web has already been created. It's called Reddit. Bear with me here, I realize this is probably an unpopular opinion. On Reddit, all content is open -- I don't think I've ever seen a 'closed' sub-reddit available only to members. I'm not sure it's even possible. Yet, in spite of all communities…

There is a closed subreddit available to members who have purchased Reddit Gold: /r/lounge.

Re: Welcome to the new web.

#87

Post by mechanical_fish »

wgx wrote: post #46
skeletonjelly wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. Can you impart any more information?

Certainly. This was user testing with groups of young people in Tower Hamlets, London in 2010. Aside from testing the UX spec we talked more widely around discovery and every group indicated that they began most tasks with a search on YouTube. Music, games, movies, homework research: all started visually on YT. Facebook came up because the majority of these kids didn't have email addresses, instead doing all their em…

they began most tasks with a search on YouTube

This really underlines why buying YouTube was a smart move for Google.

Re: Welcome to the new web.

#88

Post by muyuu »

dissident wrote: post #33
nirvana wrote: post #6

I'm a member of a forum for graduates of one of the schools I went to. In 2007 it was a vibrant and active forum, growing steadily, and straining its hosting account, which constantly had to be expanded. At some point, around 2009, most of the members of this forum got Facebook accounts. That forum is now completely dead. Facebook took all the oxygen out of the site, and it seems like a lot of other sites. Now very m…

As an administrator of an online message board, I concur. Web content is being so efficiently aggregated that some forums turn into the awkward conversation between two redditors: "Check this out!" "Heh, yeah. I saw that." Communities before were usually separated by platforms , because the platforms were not yet sophisticated enough to support vast communities of varying opinions. Now we have a few big players that…

The problem is that most of the web has been gobbled by inane "check this out!" comments and insightful, rich discussion is confined to an ever smaller % of it.

A lot of people feel very alienated by this lowest common denominator standard of the web and the fact that niche sites are dying even in absolute terms. Hopefully we will see a revival, when more people realise they were better off before this over-sharing nonsense. People adapt more easily to a lower standard than to a higher one, though.

Re: Welcome to the new web.

#89

Post by vidarh »

user24 wrote: post #64
donw wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going put put my two cents in, and say that a platform capable of replacing Facebook for discussion and community on the web has already been created. It's called Reddit. Bear with me here, I realize this is probably an unpopular opinion. On Reddit, all content is open -- I don't think I've ever seen a 'closed' sub-reddit available only to members. I'm not sure it's even possible. Yet, in spite of all communities…

but you still have to register for reddit... reddit's owned by conde nast, it's not an open platform. Conde nast could at a moment's notice shut the entire thing down, or put it behind a paywall, or sell your 'likes' to an advertiser. This is a problem common to all centralised solutions.

No, you don't have to register. You have to register to post.

As for shutting it down: The code is open source, so while it'd be hard to unite around a common replacement, if they tried to shut it down it would not be the end.

Re: Welcome to the new web.

#90

Post by bphogan »

maximusprime wrote: post #47
janto wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> mainstream people seem to think of Facebook as "the internet" For quite a few years people used the Internet Explorer icon on pamphlets and posters as an icon representing The Internet. It seems people are now starting to use Facebook's icon for that.

It's also weird IMHO when you see an advert or movie trailer, and they tell you to visit their facebook page, rather than their own website...

It is just a repetition of the "Use AOL Keyword "ID4" (for Independence Day).

Walled gardens for the less technical savvy have been the norm. Outside of the hacker/coder/geek culture, has it ever really been different? Prodigy -> AOL -> MySpace -> Facebook

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