Wait, what? He's disappointed because his announcement of his wife's pregnancy did NOT release a howling horde of marketeers trying to sell him more shit? Jesus, what a sad sack.
Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
11–20 of 20 posts
Re: Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
#12Terrible article. The author put his foot in his mouth to talk up a numerically successful 24-year-old taken by the old to be an emblem of our generation, even though most within our generation just wish the guy would go away.
This is going to sound like it's borne out of resentment, but I don't intend it that way: Mark Zuckerberg's problem is that he never failed, and that he never was in the position where failure was remotely possible. Before Facebook's rise, he had ridiculous amounts of PR handed to him, and then got absurd VC investments-- again, literally handed to him. So, the end result of this is that he can't take success gracefully. This is why he pisses people off, and it's also why Facebook is such a mess. If he can't handle success well in the public, why would we expect him to be any more humble and attuned in private?
Re: Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
#13Is it possible to suck up more than this?
Well, you have got to realize that this is part of Scoble's job—he is a technology evangelist (among other things) by trade. A large number of his statements are inherently biased, and that's OK; it's not like you have to pay him any heed. I certainly don't.
Re: Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
#14Wait, what? He's disappointed because his announcement of his wife's pregnancy did NOT release a howling horde of marketeers trying to sell him more shit? Jesus, what a sad sack.
I think you missed the point of why he brought that up. He's not disappointed. But he's able to distance himself from his own experiences and view them from the perspective of Facebook and Twitter.
Re: Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
#15Wait, what? He's disappointed because his announcement of his wife's pregnancy did NOT release a howling horde of marketeers trying to sell him more shit? Jesus, what a sad sack.
I think you missed the point of why he brought that up. He's not disappointed. But he's able to distance himself from his own experiences and view them from the perspective of Facebook and Twitter.
Sure, but that perspective seems to be "F'em, regular mallrat people like advertising. I don't personally know anyone that tacky, but I'm sure they exist and are ripe for the picking. All that's needed is a total disregard for everyone's opinion." Ugh. It betrays a contempt for, well, the world, and it is quite ugly.
Re: Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you missed the point of why he brought that up. He's not disappointed. But he's able to distance himself from his own experiences and view them from the perspective of Facebook and Twitter.
Sure, but that perspective seems to be "F'em, regular mallrat people like advertising. I don't personally know anyone that tacky, but I'm sure they exist and are ripe for the picking. All that's needed is a total disregard for everyone's opinion." Ugh. It betrays a contempt for, well, the world, and it is quite ugly.
I don't see it as an concession that people like advertising, but as one that in order for online applications like Facebook to exist, they need revenue. He's pointing out how Facebook can get revenue.
Re: Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, but that perspective seems to be "F'em, regular mallrat people like advertising. I don't personally know anyone that tacky, but I'm sure they exist and are ripe for the picking. All that's needed is a total disregard for everyone's opinion." Ugh. It betrays a contempt for, well, the world, and it is quite ugly.
I don't see it as an concession that people like advertising, but as one that in order for online applications like Facebook to exist, they need revenue. He's pointing out how Facebook can get revenue.
He is pretty explicit an unapologetic in the comments.
"Robert Scoble Says: March 21st, 2009 at 7:05 pm Leo: you are particularly clueless if you think what I just laid out for you is spam. Advertising is NOT spam. A LOT of people actually LIKE seeing advertising."
"Robert Scoble Says: March 21st, 2009 at 7:25 pm Will: I disagree. I know a LOT of people who enjoy being marketed to. Here’s a hint: they love going to the mall."
I was a bit over the top in characterizing it (eg, he does admit to knowing people who want stuff shoved at them), but these are his own words. Later on he adds some sops like "Zuckerberg told me he'll add filtering", but it's totally an afterthought.
Scoble is quite seriously telling Facebook to create its own reality over the opinions of the entire world. The potential profits are beside the point, at least for me. He's advocating a sad and ugly attitude.
Re: Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
#18I'm sorry but the Porsche analogy is just crap. If you ask Porsche enthusiasts, they will not list "trunk room" or "more leg room" as desirable features of their next Porsche. If you ask the thousands of people who buy a Porsche because it is a status symbol, then yes, they will want it to be more like a Volvo. Does Porsche listen to the former? Heck yes they do. And the latter? They are laughed at and ignored while…
Porsche did join in the SUV craze (and satisfied the "trunk room" and "more leg room" requests) by introducing the Cayenne. And I seem to remember something about a four-door coming out (or might be mixing it up with Lamborghini). Part of it is figuring out how to retain the base and still expand into a new area. Neat trick.
Re: Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see it as an concession that people like advertising, but as one that in order for online applications like Facebook to exist, they need revenue. He's pointing out how Facebook can get revenue.
He is pretty explicit an unapologetic in the comments. "Robert Scoble Says: March 21st, 2009 at 7:05 pm Leo: you are particularly clueless if you think what I just laid out for you is spam. Advertising is NOT spam. A LOT of people actually LIKE seeing advertising." "Robert Scoble Says: March 21st, 2009 at 7:25 pm Will: I disagree. I know a LOT of people who enjoy being marketed to. Here’s a hint: they love going to t…
Whenever I meet someone who says that s\he "hates advertising", I count the advertisements that they're wearing and carrying. It's always a non-zero number.
People do like advertising that provides value to them. They dislike/hate advertising that doesn't.
Re: Why Facebook has never listened and why it definitely won’t start now
#20Facebook is just trying to prevent itself from becoming irrelevant. It realizes that the service it offers it not unique in any significant way and it can get left by the way side when the next big thing comes along.
It's still a young company and without an established business model we can't really hold them to too much. You won't expect an application in beta to be a beacon of stability and usability. This is the stage facebook is in and it should be allowed to evolve until they find a sustainable business model.