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Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

nytimes.com

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Re: Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

#131

Post by criddell »

CuriouslyC wrote: post #124
scholia wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook wants you to see whatever keeps you coming back to Facebook to see more of, ie what you want to see. That's exactly how it maximizes its ad potential. It might have a hypocrisy problem. People will typically claim to like certain things (high-status cultural artifacts) while mostly consuming other things (trash TV, fast food etc). However, it doesn't benefit from driving people away.

I don't think it is a hypocrisy problem, so much as an issue of conflicting desires. A junkie who is trying to quit heroin wants to get clean, but he also really wants a fix. Of course it is more profitable for the dealer to continue selling heroin.

I don't get your analogy. If I check Facebook Monday to see photos of a nephew's piano recital this weekend, am I the junkie or the dealer?

Re: Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

#132

Post by majewsky »

criddell wrote: post #131
CuriouslyC wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it is a hypocrisy problem, so much as an issue of conflicting desires. A junkie who is trying to quit heroin wants to get clean, but he also really wants a fix. Of course it is more profitable for the dealer to continue selling heroin.

I don't get your analogy. If I check Facebook Monday to see photos of a nephew's piano recital this weekend, am I the junkie or the dealer?

The junkie. And that particular phrasing hinges on strawman since the point is not that you want to see photos of your nephew, but rather that you're using a tool that is explicitly designed to maximize your desire for coming back to it.

Re: Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

#133

Post by majewsky »

kalleboo wrote: post #89
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So here's the thing: Facebook said they'd leave Instagram to be Instagram. But saying Facebook isn't holding that promise because things have changed isn't necessarily accurate. The people in charge of Instagram may have used more and more of Facebook's tools, looked at better analytics, tweaked, used lessons learned from Facebook, etc. While I agree it's unlikely that Facebook left them entirely alone I don't think…

Not to mention that Twitter is moving in the same direction

In 5 years we have the short-message Facebook (Twitter), the image Facebook (Instagram), the news Facebook (Facebook), the video Facebook (Youtube), maybe also the source code Facebook (Github [1]). That must be the market-driven diversity that my economics teachers loved to tell me all about.

[1] That one is a bit of a stretch, but you can already "follow people" and they market themselves as a social network, so...

Re: Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

#134

Post by majewsky »

CuriouslyC wrote: post #108
arjie wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you, really? For most of the people I know, our entertainment budget is fairly flexible. If I'd spend £100 on something and if I wanted it, I'm probably not going to spend £100 on my second choice thing. In fact, I may not spend anything at all and just choose to spend my time on things I've already spent money on like going out to skate or something. Mostly the cash budget is substantially higher than the time bu…

Advertising in the real world is unquestionably negative. Almost all advertising works by creating a sense of lack where none previously existed, or co-opting your decision making process by creating gratuitous associations. Advertising that accurately reflects the merits of a product in an unbiased way doesn't "work". I am not opposed to the idea of advertising, but what we have now is really a form of manipulation…

Exactly. To quote grandparent:

> If ads help with allocation closer to people's real preferences, they're a good thing.

I can name a lot of things fulfilling this role, but none of them are ads. When I built a PC, do you honestly think I looked at advertisements for components? Hell no. My primary source were subreddits like /r/BuildAPC that have guides on what to watch out for when shopping for PC components, and price comparison sites, particularly those that have a ton of filters. Those resources are either run by a devoted community, or they earn a commission when directing me to an online shop where I can buy the product of my choosing. But they're not manipulating my choice in the way that ads are designed to do.

Re: Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

#135

Post by Ninjalicious »

ronhav3 wrote: post #46

I've been on Instagram for a year, and I still don't get it. I've gotten to a 1000 followers by regularly adding photos from my travels. I get a few hundred likes per photo and a couple of dozen of generic comments.And the occasional DM. Is this it ? Even by the standards of social media, it feels very superificial to me. Facebook 10 years ago was much more exciting.

You're not engaging deeply. I find myself in these insane microcosms of things I'm interested in, where people are deeply engaged in creating new and interesting content. I follow artists, designers, fashion, extreme sports, my friends, brands, everything. It's a photo blog in a Twitter style rapid fire format, where everyone is an equal because we all have to create good and interesting comment. There's no way to hide behind words, your content has to be good. And people notice. I've learned so much just from videos of artisans and artists posting how-to and process clips. It's the one thing Twitter should have done but never could have. It's short form blogging in visual form, for me, it just works and I get a lot out of it every damn day.

Re: Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

#136

Post by criddell »

majewsky wrote: post #132
criddell wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get your analogy. If I check Facebook Monday to see photos of a nephew's piano recital this weekend, am I the junkie or the dealer?

The junkie. And that particular phrasing hinges on strawman since the point is not that you want to see photos of your nephew, but rather that you're using a tool that is explicitly designed to maximize your desire for coming back to it.

You're hilarious.

"a tool that is explicitly designed to maximize your desire for coming back to it"

WTF! They want to serve me well? Those bastards!

You know what keeps me coming back? My sister calling me to tell me that there's photos and a video on her Facebook page.

Re: Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

#138

Post by bradknowles »

ams6110 wrote: post #99
victorvation wrote: post #44

> More precisely, it feels the way Facebook did from 2009 to 2012, when it silently crossed over from one of those tech things that some people sometimes did to one of those tech things that everyone you know does every day. Ubiquity is an interesting thought - there are very few apps that an average person uses on a daily basis that _aren't_ owned by Facebook. Four of the most used apps (Facebook, Messenger, Instagr…

Judging by my kids and their friends, teens and younger are not using Facebook apps, they are using Snapchat.

Which is why Facebook bought Instagram.

Keep in mind that inside of AOL, we thought of GNN as "AOL2000". Yeah, that worked out real good. ;)

Re: Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

#139

Post by bradknowles »

nojvek wrote: post #114
ams6110 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Judging by my kids and their friends, teens and younger are not using Facebook apps, they are using Snapchat.

I know a ton of Users who are not on Facebook. Yeah Facebook had a ton of users, I'm not sure how many of them are real and how engaged Facebook keeps them. So many ads you can slap in someone's face before they get put off.

Lots and lots of fake accounts, especially to play certain games, or set up as bots for other purpose.

When I was active on Facebook, most people I knew had dozens of fake accounts.

Re: Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook

#140

Post by rendered_fat »

ams6110 wrote: post #99
victorvation wrote: post #44

> More precisely, it feels the way Facebook did from 2009 to 2012, when it silently crossed over from one of those tech things that some people sometimes did to one of those tech things that everyone you know does every day. Ubiquity is an interesting thought - there are very few apps that an average person uses on a daily basis that _aren't_ owned by Facebook. Four of the most used apps (Facebook, Messenger, Instagr…

Judging by my kids and their friends, teens and younger are not using Facebook apps, they are using Snapchat.

Recently they're using snapchat? Check again. Instagram rolled out snapchat-comparable features in the last couple months. Im 23, but most of my friends have moved to instagram for stories.
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