Is Facebook dying? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#11

Post by iskander » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:18 PM UTC

stevenj wrote: post #5

Several of my friends have quit Facebook. Many on multiple occasions. Nearly all of them have eventually come back. Many of them multiple times. I think the ones who are still gone will come back sometime. Some inevitably won't. But I think the number of people who dislike Facebook enough to never want to use it are in the extreme minority. I think most people just don't think about whether it's evil or not. It's jus…

I've been off facebook for half a year but I'm still tempted to return. There isn't a good alternative for sharing photos with a group of friends, though hopefully something will emerge.

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#12

Post by halayli » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:25 PM UTC

The title should be: "My kids are using Facebook less these days".

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#13

Post by ryandvm » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:26 PM UTC

stevenj wrote: post #5

Several of my friends have quit Facebook. Many on multiple occasions. Nearly all of them have eventually come back. Many of them multiple times. I think the ones who are still gone will come back sometime. Some inevitably won't. But I think the number of people who dislike Facebook enough to never want to use it are in the extreme minority. I think most people just don't think about whether it's evil or not. It's jus…

Man, I can't even imagine what Facebook would look like after 20 more years of them abusing user privacy. They will probably have their own line of video-enabled shower faucets by then...

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#14

Post by VeejayRampay » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:30 PM UTC

Let us hope so.

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#15

Post by saraid216 » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:30 PM UTC

mrchess wrote: post #4

I'm tired of these stupid sensationalist articles. Pre-IPO everyone talks about how amazing it is, post-IPO everyone just talks about it dying and failing. People need to do something better with their time then speculate over stupidity. It's simply way too early to tell anything.

> It's simply way too early to tell anything.

It's always way too early to tell anything until it's too late to predict because it already happened.

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#16

Post by hugh4life » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:31 PM UTC

No, Facebook is not dying because Facebook is the Walmart of the internet. I'd prefer not to shop there but sometimes there's no way to avoid it.

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#17

Post by rlu » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:31 PM UTC

I feel like on a normal day, my Facebook news feed is filled with more positive posts than negative ones. I don't see people whine that often.

This shouldn't be surprising - don't people want to put their best foot forward on facebook? Sure, whining is fun some of the time (yay validation! everyone like and comment and agree with me!!) but a lot of the time you want to not sound whiny.

I would also hesitate jumping to conclusions based on the experiences of a seemingly antisocial 16 year old (not quite her words, but she seemed to imply it) and a 13 year old who started using Facebook when she was ELEVEN?

I would not be surprised if kids in that age range whine more than kids in mine (18-24)

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#18

Post by unreal37 » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:33 PM UTC

tatsuke95 wrote: post #6

> "She has at last count at least three accounts, possibly more, which she uses for different purposes – some of them just to play those stupid spammy Facebook games and quizzes." Impossible! According to Facebook, multiple accounts are not an issue, and people like this are outliers! And yet, almost everyone I know has more than one account. That 900MM user number is phonier than a three-dollar-bill. I wonder what t…

Facebook has 955MM "monthly active uniques". That's not number of accounts (which is surely over 1B), that is number of active users over a 30 day period.

So all these fake accounts - people are using them (active). Ads are being displayed, activity is happening, Facebook is making money on every single one of 955MM accounts.

So what makes them phony?

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#19

Post by roryliam » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:33 PM UTC

Facebook isn't dying but I think it is easier to leave than it once was. The pull of Facebook is weaker with the proliferation and growth of more niche social networks - or networks such as Twitter where users can carve their own niches - and other methods of discovery of content (the article mentions Reddit and StumbleUpon).

The common complaint that Facebook is full of advertising, apps and ranty, passive aggressive status updates is justified. It is possible that people will grow tired of having their friendships and other social interactions mediated through Facebook without major changes in usage habits (maybe something more intimate and limited like Path) and the way that Facebook goes about making money.

While I agree that Facebook makes it easier to keep in touch with friends - possibly due to the critical mass rather than anything inherent in the service, - I do not think this is necessarily a good thing. It is often passive (stalking) rather than active. I deleted my Facebook account last weekend and I already feel as if I have an obligation to actively pursue friendships if I want them to continue.

Re: Is Facebook dying?

#20

Post by jbigelow76 » Thu, Sep 20, 2012, 6:34 PM UTC

My Facebook account is pretty much in zombie mode now. I'll give it a quick scan every couple days to see if my friends posted anything of interest but I don't post anything.

Mostly it's there so my parents don't start wondering if they need to "get on that twitter thing" and to see what I've been up to.