Threads, an Instagram app • Hacker News Board

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#891

Post by anonymousab » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:13 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #685

mullingitover wrote: post #93

I'm calling it now, this is going to hollow out twitter in extremely rapid fashion. I give twitter a couple of months once this launches, they'll do a Wile E Coyote where they walk off the cliff, followed by plummeting. Meta is going to grind the blue bird to a fine powder, not saying this as a Meta fan, just a casual observer. There's massive pent-up demand for an alternative, and so far Bluesky and Mastodon haven't…

I've not seen anyone mention this yet, but: UK twitter is laughing at "Threads" because it's also the title of a notorious made-for-TV horror film about nuclear war https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/ > There's massive pent-up demand for an alternative I'm not quite convinced by this; I think there's demand for things to go back how they were, but that's unsmashing the glass and is fundamentally impossible. Everyon…

> but that's unsmashing the glass and is fundamentally impossible

I think it's the exact opposite. Musk could roll back most of his hated changes and most users would be happy with that. Staff up a bit to deal with stability and legal problems, and all along the way advertisers would slowly but surely return to previous or greater heights. Twitter still has its network effects and would have its benefits that reduce churn/attrition. As a tool and social space it would still be just as valuable to users as it was a few years ago.

Some of the alternatives look better for now, but they haven't yet had the influx of crypto bots, hustlebros and annoying legions of sycophants that Twitter has been purposely changed to magnify. Reversing course and even making some of those things better (e.g. bots) could even be a net gain for Twitter and its users.

But the thing is, users would still dunk on Elon mercilessly for his buffoonery, and for backing down. And he sees those kinds of personal slights as far more important than Twitter's success (or lack thereof). So yeah, from his perspective and his alone, you can never unsmash the glass. Much of the changes so far have become ride-or-die because they are a matter of Ego.

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#892

Post by dragonwriter » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:17 PM UTC

abledon wrote: post #474

adventured wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But hooooly crap does it underscore how much of a catastrophe Musk’s actions are I think that pretty much nails it. This is Zuckerberg's life - social media & nearby segments - and he's still in his prime (very active, attentive to threats / paranoid) as a competitor in the business sphere. If you give him an opening to cripple Twitter opportunistically, he's going to take a shot. Did Musk think Twitter actually ha…

> Did Musk think Twitter actually had a moat Yes, first mover advantage. I don't think normal non-technically inclined people are going to move their twitter activities to "Threads".

> I don't think normal non-technically inclined people are going to move their twitter activities to "Threads".

Normal, non-technical users (including the key ones that produce a lot of content that other people come for) are often already on Instagram, and many are moving more of their presence their recently even without a Twitter-like UI in response to changes on Twitter. So, that’s something Meta can leverage to build Threads if they manage it well.

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#893

Post by data-ottawa » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:23 PM UTC

threeseed wrote: post #123

u2077 wrote: post #100

Look at that app privacy report. I didn’t expect anything less from Meta. Let’s hope they aren’t using all our Mastodon accounts for advertising too.

Well I for one am actually looking forward to relevant ads. On Twitter I've been shown everything from industrial mining supplies, nipple covers, psychology research papers, super yachts, home shopping network junk and just now an ad for an oral dosing technology conference.

I’m finding Apple News actually provides me ads I click, and Reddit did briefly too. Neither of those apps ask nearly what Threads is asking. They are more tailored towards the content being shown though, and I turn down permissions whenever I can.

Anecdotally I’ve never purposefully clicked an ad on Twitter, I think either the buyers or the algorithms are off there.

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#894

Post by DANmode » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:26 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #234

mullingitover wrote: post #93

I'm calling it now, this is going to hollow out twitter in extremely rapid fashion. I give twitter a couple of months once this launches, they'll do a Wile E Coyote where they walk off the cliff, followed by plummeting. Meta is going to grind the blue bird to a fine powder, not saying this as a Meta fan, just a casual observer. There's massive pent-up demand for an alternative, and so far Bluesky and Mastodon haven't…

I couldn't disagree more. I don't see any sign Meta understands what made Twitter great, and the fact that they're heavily branding it with Instagram, using Instagram logins etc suggests to me that they're just looking for another angle to vacuum up user data. Maybe I'm unusual but the accounts I follow on Instagram and Twitter do not have a huge amount of crossover so the fact that their onboarding process tries to…

> I don't see any sign Meta understands what made Twitter great

Marketplace

> when was the last time Facebook successfully launched a new standalone social app?

Marketplace =]

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#895

Post by data-ottawa » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:27 PM UTC

tedunangst wrote: post #283

w-m wrote: post #18

Any guesses on how much you'll be able to read, when following a link with a Desktop browser? Half a thread, or more? Before the inevitable full-page login overlay hits you straight in the face, as they always tend to do.

When, or if, they support activitypub you'll be able to read posts in the json viewer of your choice.

I don’t know much about how ActivityPub actually works, is it possible that Threads could provide too much content to the network and DoS smaller instances from building feeds?

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#896

Post by danaw » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:32 PM UTC

tiborsaas wrote: post #771

stubybubs wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marketplace dominates used goods in my area. I don't think it matters that it's not "standalone," it was a new area and they grabbed the market share. Running threads off IG has a good shot too.

Marketplace is so horrible on so many fronts that it's unimaginable that it's successful, but it is. Most likely thanks to the network effect. It's a good target for disruption IMHO.

I mean, compared to what, Craigslist and eBay?

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#897

Post by rektide » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:38 PM UTC

hrisng wrote: post #691

luckystarr wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People on the Fediverse expected it very much. Meta already was trying to talk to the larger instances "off the record"[1]. Fediverse users are already planning to boycott any instance which federates with Meta to block any Embrace, Extend and Extinguish moves. [1] https://fosstodon.org/@kev/110592625692688836 edit: More info here: https://wedistribute.org/2023/06/fedipact-blocking-meta/

Why? I would love for the general public to be able to connect to Fediverse. I don't love Meta per se, but let be real here, the majority of people are not gonna sign up for random instances that run by someone they don' know, to interact with a very small and niche subset of people, with a risk of it being shut down by that said person due to whatever personal circumstances they may have. It's the biggest obstacles…

The main reason why is that Meta is a colossal vast data gathering beast, that for example flagrantly fucks around bypassing the GDPR. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36583651

Now, I personally I think it's trying to swim up the waterfall & ultimately worse for everyone, but: Mastadon specifically has had a strong history of being anti-search, anti-scraping. You aren't supposed to be surveiling folks at industrial scale on the fediverse.

There's widespread skepticism about Meta respecting rules of the road. Having a huge giant shark join the pool of lots of little fish seems like a scary proposition. How we can still protect & have sovereignty over our different fedi-sites is a real question when there's a company with so much technical, economic, and popular leverages.

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#898

Post by aio2 » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:46 PM UTC

foooorsyth wrote: post #566

Anyone interested in talking about the product decisions instead of Musk/Zuck hate? - Interesting that they went with a stand-alone app instead of baking this into IG like they did with Stories (which killed Snap overnight). I wonder how much they’ll advertise the download inside of IG. - Can’t say I like the name. Doesn’t evoke much emotion in me. The term “thread” is rarely used by normies without the word “Twitter…

It reminds me of the social media BeReal.

Similar logo, black and white.

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#899

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:51 PM UTC

m3kw9 wrote: post #822

proxy9 wrote: post #798

What I dislike about Twitter lately: - overarching political propaganda - crypto bros - AI bros - profit chads - constant fighting over idiotic topics, some driven by Musk itself What I care for when I open Twitter: - news - hearing from other people from the dev community If Threads can deliver this, I will be hooked

Which means a lot will be censored, if they don’t censor you end up with the same convo people want to talk about in the current times

[deleted]

Re: Threads, an Instagram app

#900

Post by smoldesu » Tue, Jul 04, 2023, 4:52 PM UTC

luckystarr wrote: post #874

smoldesu wrote: post #821

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free Software isn't about picking and choosing who gets to run your program or interact with your protocol. Federation is , but the concept of Meta using ActivityPub has nothing inherently wrong with it. If Meta has the gall to rug-pull the entire Fediverse, things will just return to the same status quo they are today. Multiple content silos with thousands of freely-federating alternative platforms. As a Mastodon us…

> Free Software isn't about picking and choosing who gets to run your program or interact with your protocol. Federation is, but the concept of Meta using ActivityPub has nothing inherently wrong with it. Meta can ActivityPub themselves all day long, as far as I'm concerned. If I were a server operator, I wouldn't let them anywhere NEAR my users though, so no federation with them. > If Meta has the gall to rug-pull t…

Many people already imagine the Fediverse being an empty husk with no significant life left. I'm using the platform today, and I'm perfectly happy.

The EEE attempts on a major open platform haven't even reached step 3, arguably. ActiveX, XServe, Flash and Silverlight all failed spectacularly at their goal of co-opting and extinguishing the concept of the internet. Considering how Meta has no meaningful leverage over the Fediverse community, I think your fears are unwarranted. Best case scenario, Meta plays by the rules and federates well-regulated content into everyone's feeds like Twitter with less extremism. Worst-case scenario, Meta goes crazy and takes all the normies with them to their closed Threads landscape, returning things to how they are now (dense with nerds and misfits). I don't think Meta enthusiasts or current Fediverse denizens would care either way.