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Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

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Re: Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

#71

Post by giaour »

cma wrote: post #69
giaour wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bribing your way into an elite college costs a lot more than $20/month, though. As a society, we also confer prestige on a lot of things that basically amount to spending a prohibitively large sum of money: running a foundation; being an angel investor; owning a sports team, champion racehorse, Lamborghini, etc. But if just anybody can afford something and the only barrier to entry is cost, then it has no social curr…

> Bribing your way into an elite college costs a lot more than $20/month, though. So will the checkmark once they price discriminate on wealth or follower count.

I just don’t see how that’s workable as a business strategy. If Twitter charges you for a blue check, the social value of the mark will go down. If they simultaneously charge higher prices based on the wealth of the subscriber, that’s asking wealthy tweeters for a lot of money for something whose value has been significantly diluted.

Re: Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

#72

Post by reustle »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #66
helen___keller wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idk about VR but I think AR could possibly become a winner (assuming fundamental problems like battery life and headset weight are solved) Everyone has this mindset that VR must be coupled with greater immersion. I think the real “value unlock” will be when it’s just for casual side browsing alongside daily life, like how most people use smartphones Will the tech ever get there? Will this even be good for daily life?…

I guess maybe it'll have a chance with low-profile "Meta glasses". The joy of smartphones is their ubiquity and super low friction to use - until one can easily pull out the AR during a boring moment in a restaurant I can't see it having the same draw.

I think the already available NREAL Air is a nice glimpse at where the tech is today

https://youtu.be/Oq-n9WJBI0Q

Re: Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

#73

Post by aqme28 »

hobs wrote: post #8
aliqot wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For you maybe, but people are vain enough to pay 20 bucks and more for a little blue check. There were insider rings charging much more for it. Time will tell though, if the easiness with which a blue checkmark is acquired will diminish the significance of having one, and to what degree.

It doesn't matter, charging all engaged users won't make enough money to be meaningful, the math just doesn't work out.

This. It's akin to charging YouTube creators $20/month. These are not the users that are making them money.

Re: Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

#74

Post by vlunkr »

reustle wrote: post #72
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess maybe it'll have a chance with low-profile "Meta glasses". The joy of smartphones is their ubiquity and super low friction to use - until one can easily pull out the AR during a boring moment in a restaurant I can't see it having the same draw.

I think the already available NREAL Air is a nice glimpse at where the tech is today https://youtu.be/Oq-n9WJBI0Q

Those look pretty cool. Also good to see other companies getting products out there. It would be terrible if Meta gets a stranglehold on the ecosystem.

Re: Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

#75

Post by mbostleman »

vlunkr wrote: post #50

Zuckerberg seems to really think that VR is the next ”big thing” like the iPhone. I’m curious what people here think about that. I’m currently on the skeptical side for a couple of reasons. The tech isn’t there. These headsets are bulky and ugly, only very dedicated users are willing to wear them for hours a day. Maybe someday they’ll be the size of Google glass, but it’s certainly too early to bet your company on it…

I don't understand how Meta could be a compelling game changer like the iPhone because I don't understand what practical value it offers. The iPhone and mobile in general has had an incredible impact on economic efficiency alone, much less the cultural changes it has driven. People can't live without their phones. Whether or not that's a good thing is TBD, but it's hard to imagine a product that is similarly indispensable - Automobiles maybe? Electricity? Indoor plumbing?

Ok, so then compare Meta's big idea. Standing in a room with a screen strapped to your head, blocking out the rest of the world and rendering your body useless? What exactly is that going to provide other than an enhanced gaming or entertainment experience? I fully suspect that I'm missing something because it seems ridiculous. Not the idea of an immersive experience to enhance entertainment, but the idea of taking the largest social media portfolio of companies and pivoting towards this.

For context, I get metaverses. I was a pretty big participant in SL from 2006-2010ish. I wrote tons of lsl and collaborated with builders to sell 10s of thousands of dollars of silly things that made people's experience more fun. So as a fun side thing, I get. But how exactly could that translate in to THE thing? Especially if it means sitting like a zombie on my couch?

Re: Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

#76

Post by pliftkl »

bhouston wrote: post #2

I suspect if Elon can get away with charging many, and probably most, heavy users of the platform a monthly fee, Zuckerberg will as well. In many ways such an outcome makes sense given Apple's ATT changes decimated targeted advertising revenue.

I would absolutely be willing to pay a monthly fee for a Facebook that wouldn't serve me ads or "suggested" things in my feed, and only showed me things that I explicitly said I was interested in. I'm curious how much I'm actually worth to FB under the advertising model, since that's going to dictate how much fee they would need to ditch advertising.

Re: Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

#77

Post by cma »

giaour wrote: post #71
cma wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Bribing your way into an elite college costs a lot more than $20/month, though. So will the checkmark once they price discriminate on wealth or follower count.

I just don’t see how that’s workable as a business strategy. If Twitter charges you for a blue check, the social value of the mark will go down. If they simultaneously charge higher prices based on the wealth of the subscriber, that’s asking wealthy tweeters for a lot of money for something whose value has been significantly diluted.

It depends on if they still have the notability requirement; if they just charge $20 and anyone can get it then it definitely devalues the whole thing (the whole value of the mark other than as a signal is access to DM other notable people; if anyone can pay $20 to DM celebrities and stuff celebrities will turn off blue check mark DMs or if there is no option just ignore DMs entirely, which then kills the journalism loop on Twitter where journalists get access to celebrities, politicians, etc. by having the mark).

Re: Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

#78

Post by guywithahat »

cloutchaser wrote: post #37
guywithahat wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean the entirety of Gab and the fediverse are based off of content producers paying to use the service

People pay gab? What?

Yeah Gab Pro, it lets you upload higher quality content, videos, and some other stuff including applying to get verified. It's how they made most of their money for a long time, ads are a recent thing for their site to my understanding. It's $15/month

Re: Why Meta is tanking and how Zuckerberg can fix it

#79

Post by Invictus0 »

fullshark wrote: post #55
Invictus0 wrote: post #21

Zucc knows what he's doing. No investor was ever going to love the $40B capex on metaverse, they would happily ride the Facebook cash cow into the ground and suck the life out of the company dividend by dividend. Zucc just doesn't care about the quarterly reports, he's going to execute on his vision regardless.

Why is it binary? Why is 40B capex going to make it a reality and 30B/20B/10B not?

To be clear, I don't think any amount of money will make it work, I don't believe in the vision. My point is only that Zucc is not the hapless dolt the article sort of makes him out to be.
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