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Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

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Re: Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

#21

Post by dcope »

blhack wrote: post #7

If you are as confused by OPs talking about 800lb gorillas and soforth as I was: Snapchat is a picture sharing application that uses facebook's API. Poke is a competitor that facebook made. OP is implying that facebook saw Snapchat's beginning success by seeing how many API calls they were making and then copied snapchat, instead of buying them. Thus: OP is implying that Facebook uses its API to see up-and-comers in…

Where do you get the idea that Snapchat uses the Facebook API? I have the app and I see no signs of it and I can't find any mention of it on their website.

Re: Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

#23

Post by Hawkee »

This reminds me of the dispute between Microsoft and Netscape when Microsoft released IE. There is always the chance that the 800lb gorilla will copy you, API or not. I find it hard to believe that Facebook copied SnapChat because of the API. They were probably most influenced by the press and acclaim the app was generating. Add in the fact that SnapChat only took 12 days to replicate and you've got a very real target.

Re: Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

#24

Post by Aardwolf »

I (as a not really into the whole "Social" web thing person) am a bit confused:

Facebook itself already has photo uploading, sharing and commenting. Instagram is also something with photo uploading (but with applying effects to them). SnapChat is picture sharing. So if Facebook copied it I guess Poke is also picture sharing.

So Facebook has 3 different photo related things: Facebook photos, Instagram and Poke.

What is the difference between these 3, simply put?

Thanks!

Re: Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

#25

Post by dcope »

tkahn6 wrote: post #4

So here's something that just happened 5 minutes ago. A girl I've been snapchatting with texted me and asked why the Poke app is just like snapchat. I asked her if it was better, and she said 'I haven't used it much, but it looks much better', and now we're using it instead of snapchat. Pretty fascinating. She downloaded the app because they're advertising it on their mobile app.

That doesn't surprise me too much. Visually, the Poke app does look much more appealing however the big win is obviously the Facebook integration. Snapchat requires you to find friends by their phone number or by manually entering their username. The Poke application on the other hand allows you instant access to your entire friends list. In my opinion, the Poke app will obliterate Snapchat because of this.

Re: Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

#26

Post by chimu999 »

Fjslfj wrote: post #11
dannyrosen wrote: post #6

Before we adorn our tinfoil hats and assume that the first thing the Facebook "Biz Dev" guys look at in the morning is their API stats, maybe this is an exercise in "Empowering" internal employees to work on side projects not directly associated with their core product. It also lends for a great headline about their dev culture which in turn attracts more dev talent.

The guy who led the development is Zuck's sidekick.

Who exactly?

Re: Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

#27

Post by notatoad »

Aardwolf wrote: post #24

I (as a not really into the whole "Social" web thing person) am a bit confused: Facebook itself already has photo uploading, sharing and commenting. Instagram is also something with photo uploading (but with applying effects to them). SnapChat is picture sharing. So if Facebook copied it I guess Poke is also picture sharing. So Facebook has 3 different photo related things: Facebook photos, Instagram and Poke. What i…

It seems to me that facebook photos is for sharing albums, instagram is for sharing single photos, and poke is for sending a photo to a specific person. technologically they are very similar, but socially they are all very different.

Re: Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

#28

Post by octopi »

To those confused about how Snapchat uses the Facebook API:

At least for iOS, Snapchat (used to?) have a feature where you can "find friends via Facebook." Taking a closer look at the latest version now though, it appears this feature has gone away and the only way to add friends on Snapchat is through your contacts list or directly by username.

I believe the OP is implying that calls to the Facebook API (even those as trivial as fetching friends) gives Facebook valuable data that it can analyze and exploit for their own gain.

Re: Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

#29

Post by codexnight »

Well judging by the budget companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft and so on have, they could theoretically copy almost anything and render startups and/or existing companies useless.Should we all give up on creating startups?No, definitely not.

Snapchat made a crucial error when they decided to refuse acquisition by facebook.I don't know what they were thinking.They should've analyzed the situation beforehand.They had no real leverage to refuse it.

On a side note, Facebook is powerful because we empower it.We could say it is an identity database and it is used by 800 mil people if not more.Also it is addictive to most of them.So in conclusion it's easier for users to just add something related to their already well established page.

Re: Is Poke Proof That The Facebook API Is A Trojan Horse?

#30

Post by kamakazizuru »

blhack wrote: post #7

If you are as confused by OPs talking about 800lb gorillas and soforth as I was: Snapchat is a picture sharing application that uses facebook's API. Poke is a competitor that facebook made. OP is implying that facebook saw Snapchat's beginning success by seeing how many API calls they were making and then copied snapchat, instead of buying them. Thus: OP is implying that Facebook uses its API to see up-and-comers in…

I dont get why this is surprising or absurd? People keep forgetting that nothing is free. The Facebook API maybe free - but the price you pay is to give facebook a cheap way to find out what other use cases their data, infrastructure and ecosystem can have. Similar to how facebook uses your activity within the network to find ways to make money and sell things to you and 3rd parties. Just look back a few days ago at the instagram flip-flop.

This is also a part of being a member of the free-market - companies copy each other all the time - when an FMCG launches a new type of __ (insert consumer good of choice here) - its only a matter of time before all the other players launch a variant. Its a part of remaining relevant and competitive - and it keeps everyone on their feet - I'd say its a great thing! In fact - maybe the snapchat guys should look out for complaints that people have about the Poke app - and use that to improve their own app as well. The only scenario where I´d call this a "bad guy" move on Facebook´s part is if they were to also simultaneously limit Snapchats access to the FB API - and I dont know that to be the case so far!

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