Live data from Hacker News

Facebook is what happens to the Web when you hit it with the stupid stick

whatever.scalzi.com

31–40 of 111 posts

Re: Facebook is what happens to the Web when you hit it with the stupid stick

#32

A mail system that doesn’t have a Bcc function doesn’t belong in the 21st Century. This reminds me of a comment that we almost always get on HN when Facebook comes up, and its almost always right: it's not for you. If you want Bcc, it's not for you. The millions of people who are younger than you don't think to CC, let alone BCC. They want to communicate, and they want to do it now, and email is just that formal thin…

Aye, that comment stuck for me as being absolutely absurd. I'm a coder, nerd, etc, but I use Facebook to organise people/events, and as a simple way of reaching lots of people at once (for events), peruse comical photos etc. I've never used Bcc in my life and just because I like going out and having fun with friends it doesn't make me "stupid".

Re: Facebook is what happens to the Web when you hit it with the stupid stick

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that line came off as egotistical posturing. We got it. But I don't like that your snarky quip--which distorts the fact that the author continues to use facebook out of a sense of social obligation, and which I don't think adds much to the discussion--is the most upvoted comment here. Sure, you can be cynical and mock the guy, but I'd rather see you address his arguments. I'm not so much annoyed that you took th…

The reason this is the most important takeaway is that Scalzi is calling the people at Facebook "stupid", despite the fact that they are much smarter than him. "there’s very little Facebook does, either as a technological platform or as a company, that doesn’t remind me that “banal mediocrity” is apparently the highest accolade one can aspire to at that particular organization." Scalzi has never heard of Hiphop, Thri…

Also the fact that Facebook have made accessing vast amounts of information, organising events, and communicating far more simple and intuitive than any system previously available. Much as there are things to improve - there is no place on the internet better suited as a portal to your life.

Re: Facebook is what happens to the Web when you hit it with the stupid stick

#34
I don't get this Facebook rage every year. Last year it was about the open social graph API and the third-party like buttons. Everyone was mad at Facebook. Calls for boycotts, mainstream press picking it up, Diaspora, etc.

Then it dies down and everybody seems happy about Facebook.

Until a year later, HN is full of hate-posts again. So, if history is to repeat itself, I'd say that the hate will have died down by June and I'll get my hate-blogpost ready for next year, having missed this years Facebook-hating-season

Re: Facebook is what happens to the Web when you hit it with the stupid stick

#35

A mail system that doesn’t have a Bcc function doesn’t belong in the 21st Century. This reminds me of a comment that we almost always get on HN when Facebook comes up, and its almost always right: it's not for you. If you want Bcc, it's not for you. The millions of people who are younger than you don't think to CC, let alone BCC. They want to communicate, and they want to do it now, and email is just that formal thin…

Well, it is a problem with FB mail that once you mail a list of people, you can't add someone to the list unless you start a new thread. Normal people do want to do that.

Re: Facebook is what happens to the Web when you hit it with the stupid stick

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that line came off as egotistical posturing. We got it. But I don't like that your snarky quip--which distorts the fact that the author continues to use facebook out of a sense of social obligation, and which I don't think adds much to the discussion--is the most upvoted comment here. Sure, you can be cynical and mock the guy, but I'd rather see you address his arguments. I'm not so much annoyed that you took th…

The reason this is the most important takeaway is that Scalzi is calling the people at Facebook "stupid", despite the fact that they are much smarter than him. "there’s very little Facebook does, either as a technological platform or as a company, that doesn’t remind me that “banal mediocrity” is apparently the highest accolade one can aspire to at that particular organization." Scalzi has never heard of Hiphop, Thri…

First, he wasn't calling the people who work at Facebook stupid. Second, I have no idea how smart John Scalzi is... and you probably don't either.

He was criticizing the idea of Facebook. Facebook is a very well implemented system. But that doesn't mean that you can't question the validity of the system. Just because it's hard to build doesn't mean that it is worthwhile to use.

Re: Facebook is what happens to the Web when you hit it with the stupid stick

#38
post #18
post #2

Clearly someone who "once handrolled his own html code and then uploaded it using UNIX commands" is simply too Awesome for Facebook.

Well he was apparently doing that in 1993... What did you build on the web in 1993? NCSA Mosaic had literally just come out.

I was 7. I probably built something with Lego that was way cooler than a website.

Re: Facebook is what happens to the Web when you hit it with the stupid stick

#40

Zuckerberg is in fact not a genius; he’s an ambitious nerd who was in the right place at the right time So the guy who created Orkut must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Too bad for him. His Google stock probably only made him a millionaire. Totally uncool.

The author thinks that it was just "PR and faffery", while discounting the actual value of PR and faffery. Never discount these things. MySpace was practically built on it.

Exactly. "PR and faffery" are the secret sauce that will make or break your business. You can have the best product in the world, but without "PR and faffery" you will never get beyond a handful of early adopters. More than that, any site that looks like it has become successful without "PR and faffery" has just done the "PR and faffery" in a subtle way so that it looks like it has not happened!
Post reply on HN