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Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

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Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#21

Post by pekk »

jeswin wrote: post #18

On the contrary, I think this is about FaceBook knowing exactly what the future holds. - FB probably recognizes that a Social Network is at its core a directory of connections and the ability to message/talk to each other. Until now it took a backseat to over-shared content, when it should have been the other way round. - This app could serve as the foundation for the next FaceBook. Once you strip down an app to its…

> FB probably recognizes that a Social Network is at its core a directory of connections and the ability to message/talk to each other

How many years of hype did it take to bring us to this moment, where we realized we had reinvented ICQ/AIM?

I know, I know, I'm being reductive. There is also a sort of Geocities thing bolted on. You know, like Friendster and Myspace

Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#22

Post by Spooky23 »

cliveowen wrote: post #14

I think they may have finally found their path to irrelevance. I used to go to Facebook (the website) everyday, multiple times a day. They changed it for worse with every update, so I dropped the site and started using the app, but even the app kept changing for the worse and it's now a total mess. Then this morning I realized that it's been a week since I last used Facebook, and I'm pretty sure that in a couple mont…

I'm in the same place -- I think the company takes itself too seriously.

It's not fun to use anymore -- I'm always getting these stern warnings about new privacy policies, and they are always screwing around with the timeline.

For example, now the Facebook gods have decreed that I will view the vapid posts of acquaintances who insist on posting "look how happy my family is" pictures, and buries posts from people whom I actually interact with on Facebook.

Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#23

Post by debt »

buro9 wrote: post #19
a8000 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a startup focussing on only events and doing them well could have some potential.

http://attending.io/ is doing this. They're focusing on the market below EventBrite, small free events and small venue (i.e. tech user talks) that may require a small fee. It's really refreshing to be able to just say "I want to attend that event" and for it to be a few clicks rather than an arduous check-out process. Note: Whilst they have a "browse" button at the top, they've started by providing stand-alone pages…

I feel like hosting events is trivial. It's finding the events that is difficult. It's trivial to get a stripped down ticketing system going, it's much harder to get people to see those events.

I'm surprised there's still not a Google for events.

Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#24

Post by taiki »

pekk wrote: post #21
jeswin wrote: post #18

On the contrary, I think this is about FaceBook knowing exactly what the future holds. - FB probably recognizes that a Social Network is at its core a directory of connections and the ability to message/talk to each other. Until now it took a backseat to over-shared content, when it should have been the other way round. - This app could serve as the foundation for the next FaceBook. Once you strip down an app to its…

> FB probably recognizes that a Social Network is at its core a directory of connections and the ability to message/talk to each other How many years of hype did it take to bring us to this moment, where we realized we had reinvented ICQ/AIM? I know, I know, I'm being reductive. There is also a sort of Geocities thing bolted on. You know, like Friendster and Myspace

if ICQ was so wonderful to use then why did we flee to the next best thing to come along? My feeling was that ICQ sucked in a very horrible way.

I was never around for the Friendster days(I was a Livejoural user through and through, damn it), however the reason I suspect MySpace lost out is that they did do the GeoCities thing. Everytime I see people complaining about a new Facebook layout, I always think, "Is this worse than the best MySpace page?" Answer is always no.

It's not that we're reinventing ICQ or AIM or MySpace or whatever, it's that we're refining the, oh god I hate using this word, "experience" of using it.

Does Facebook have random flash things pegging my CPU to render a cube in 3D with my friend's vacation photos on each face? Does Facebook have auto-playing music? Does Facebook have the option of setting the page's colors to be hideously garish?

I also think Facebook is realizing this, and they're trying to retool their business away from Facebook this website you visit, to Facebook a thing where all of these neat services are wired up to. I don't know if they'll succeed, but at least they have the sense to know they're not going to be on top forever.

Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#25

Post by funkyy »

taiki wrote: post #24
pekk wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FB probably recognizes that a Social Network is at its core a directory of connections and the ability to message/talk to each other How many years of hype did it take to bring us to this moment, where we realized we had reinvented ICQ/AIM? I know, I know, I'm being reductive. There is also a sort of Geocities thing bolted on. You know, like Friendster and Myspace

if ICQ was so wonderful to use then why did we flee to the next best thing to come along? My feeling was that ICQ sucked in a very horrible way. I was never around for the Friendster days(I was a Livejoural user through and through, damn it), however the reason I suspect MySpace lost out is that they did do the GeoCities thing. Everytime I see people complaining about a new Facebook layout, I always think, "Is this w…

MySpace lost because it lost war to spam. Majority of regular users were just fed up with freaking spam. Tens of comments, invites, messages mass sent from some unknown wannabes. Facebook offered more closed approach - focusing on real life friends and trying to tackle the spam. Remember having 500 friends on MySpace? How many of them have you EVER seen in real life? 10-20% ?

Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#26

Post by AznHisoka »

Spooky23 wrote: post #22
cliveowen wrote: post #14

I think they may have finally found their path to irrelevance. I used to go to Facebook (the website) everyday, multiple times a day. They changed it for worse with every update, so I dropped the site and started using the app, but even the app kept changing for the worse and it's now a total mess. Then this morning I realized that it's been a week since I last used Facebook, and I'm pretty sure that in a couple mont…

I'm in the same place -- I think the company takes itself too seriously. It's not fun to use anymore -- I'm always getting these stern warnings about new privacy policies, and they are always screwing around with the timeline. For example, now the Facebook gods have decreed that I will view the vapid posts of acquaintances who insist on posting "look how happy my family is" pictures, and buries posts from people whom…

I think the media takes them too seriously as well. it's just a company that facilitates the sharing of LOLCat photos. Yes, its big data hard technically at that scale, but at the core, it's not a Google.

Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#27

Post by mcintyre1994 »

rkuykendall-com wrote: post #20
Killswitch wrote: post #16

Man, why the heck are they trying to split everything off into their own apps? If I am using the main app to browse my feed and I get a message, why the heck do I want to swap to another app to answer it?

You don't. Just like when you're browsing HN and you get a message you don't want to swap to another app to answer it. That's why the separated Facebook chat app uses message bubbles that you can answer in any app: http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Screen-S... Honestly, it's brilliant, and the sole reason I use Facebook chat for most of my communications.

I had no idea they'd managed to make that work for iOS, that's awesome. Definitely agree, FB chat bubbles for Android are one of the best user experiences I've seen.

Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#28

Post by frade33 »

They actually don't want to do anything with them. And I don't even get, how they would keep grabbing their rivals without triggering anti-trust investigation.

As soon as any social startup rises to the sky, they would grab it. Since the social itself is worthless in terms of making money, so anyone would easily get acquired, because they don't have any other choice, and definitely acquisition by Facebook, Apple, Google or Microsoft is and was their only business model.

Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#29

Post by dpcheng2003 »

jeswin wrote: post #18

On the contrary, I think this is about FaceBook knowing exactly what the future holds. - FB probably recognizes that a Social Network is at its core a directory of connections and the ability to message/talk to each other. Until now it took a backseat to over-shared content, when it should have been the other way round. - This app could serve as the foundation for the next FaceBook. Once you strip down an app to its…

Completely agree. Facebook's feed is its most valuable real estate and it's primarily used for photo-sharing. If you "carpet bomb" it with requests and gaming spam, it becomes irrelevant.

The discrete separation of Facebook apps may solve the problem that companies like Yahoo are facing (to some extent): The sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

If you want an 11 minute read, I covered this at great length in a blog post two weeks ago on Medium: https://medium.com/p/b3c97b87a183 (4.4K views and counting).

Re: Why Facebook Can’t Figure Out What to Do With Its Apps

#30

Post by TillE »

debt wrote: post #23
buro9 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://attending.io/ is doing this. They're focusing on the market below EventBrite, small free events and small venue (i.e. tech user talks) that may require a small fee. It's really refreshing to be able to just say "I want to attend that event" and for it to be a few clicks rather than an arduous check-out process. Note: Whilst they have a "browse" button at the top, they've started by providing stand-alone pages…

I feel like hosting events is trivial. It's finding the events that is difficult. It's trivial to get a stripped down ticketing system going, it's much harder to get people to see those events. I'm surprised there's still not a Google for events.

> I'm surprised there's still not a Google for events.

Absolutely. What's going on in Berlin next weekend? To answer that question depending on my interests, I need to check half a dozen different sites, none of them very good or filterable in useful ways.

I want to do more fun and interesting stuff, you want to promote your event. It seems like an obvious opportunity for anyone who can at least improve upon the clunky Web 1.0 interface of existing sites.

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