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Facebook loses users for the first time

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#961

Post by fragmede »

MaanuAir wrote: post #952
jmacd wrote: post #774

There is something else going on around FB. Almost all activity online has shifted away from the Social Graph to a Content Graph. Almost nobody wants to see what their friends are doing online anymore. In a lot of ways it can be cringey. People just want the latest, catchiest content. TikTok and Youtube are the OGs here, but it's everywhere when you start to look. Twitter timeline changes being an awkward but working…

Maybe it’s becoming a major media source? You know, like your on-demand TV channel that knows what you want, already.

And I'll watch that TV with my 3D glasses.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#962

Post by ricardobayes »

jmacd wrote: post #774

There is something else going on around FB. Almost all activity online has shifted away from the Social Graph to a Content Graph. Almost nobody wants to see what their friends are doing online anymore. In a lot of ways it can be cringey. People just want the latest, catchiest content. TikTok and Youtube are the OGs here, but it's everywhere when you start to look. Twitter timeline changes being an awkward but working…

I think at this point 'Groups' are single-handedly keeping fb alive.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#963

Post by hkt »

markwkw wrote: post #838
ubermonkey wrote: post #797

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there are a lot of people who are in my position, which is "I would absolutely love to ditch FB entirely, but I can't because of ____". The value of ____ might be "seeing pictures of family", or it might be "coordination of/participation in a group that has settled on Facebook as the easiest path" ( But none of these are positive reasons. There is no love of Facebook behind any of them. It's Facebook being to…

It's like that with me and having a phone number. Day to day I hate it. 95% of time I get scam calls from the "IRS" - actively harmful. Another 4% is marketing - unwanted, wasteful. Only the last 1% is potentially useful. Is facebook trending in that direction? Seems like it.

I wonder if there's a generalisable statement in there - say, that all communication media will eventually become so swamped in noise that the signal is lost almost entirely?

Maybe too pessimistic.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#964

Post by hkt »

ricardobayes wrote: post #962
jmacd wrote: post #774

There is something else going on around FB. Almost all activity online has shifted away from the Social Graph to a Content Graph. Almost nobody wants to see what their friends are doing online anymore. In a lot of ways it can be cringey. People just want the latest, catchiest content. TikTok and Youtube are the OGs here, but it's everywhere when you start to look. Twitter timeline changes being an awkward but working…

I think at this point 'Groups' are single-handedly keeping fb alive.

I deleted my FB account and the only thing that I went back for was my residents association. I still have no FB friends - which is fun because I can see the algorithm trying to work out who I know. Eerily, it correctly identified my partner and suggests I friend her (and her mother!) every time I login.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#965

Post by iLoveOncall »

Breza wrote: post #687
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #655

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Controlling the VR metaverse... I just don't see it. Too much innovation. Too much invention. Remember FB can always purchase themselves into the market - pick up a few startups and bodge together a consistent product. I think the problem is that VR tech and apps will take too long to arrive to gain any traction with the wider public, before FB needs it. FB needs hundreds of millions/billions of users, VR hasn't pu…

I'm curious if you have any thoughts on why VR remains so niche. Decent VR hardware has been available for years. And yet relatively few people use it.

Because the effort required to play is absolutely huge.

If I want to play a game on my PC I just double click the icon and I can start playing.

If I want to play a game on my VR headset I need to move furniture to make space, then I need to unbox the headset, I need to put it on and take 3 min to adjust it because my girlfriend is the last one that used it, then I need to define the space available in the room, and then finally I can enjoy a 720p game, interrupted by the red walls of the guardian when I get too close to the limit of the space I defined. Then I'll need to move back the furniture and everything...

The reason I barely play VR is because it's a chore to setup and I'll have to spend at least 15 min before being in an actual game.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#966

Post by iLoveOncall »

fallous wrote: post #718
mettamage wrote: post #615

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am both a fan of blockchain and VR. I also have a strong cynic inside of me that trashes on both of them whenever it can. It's fun being me I suppose :) Blockchain is IMO in a much much much more questionable state of relevancy and usefulness than VR. Why? I workout in VR (supplemental workouts by playing Eleven Table Tennis to the max). I boardgame in VR (Demeo). My GF picks up my headset and plays Beatsaber. You…

I apologize for the pedantry but "blockchain" != "cryptocurrency." My inner cynic is bearish on cryptocurrencies, VR (at least in broad adoption), and to a lesser extent blockchain tech but of the three the one that has the least-worst chance of finding a useful broad fit IMO is the use of blockchain tech since it's really nothing more than a trustless method of double-entry accounting and a potential means of avoidi…

> I apologize for the pedantry but "blockchain" != "cryptocurrency."

Well I challenge you to find a single real-life use of blockchain that is not tied to cryptocurrencies then.

Find a single problem that is best solved using blockchain, but doesn't involve crypto.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#967

Post by cuteboy19 »

rvz wrote: post #732
mettamage wrote: post #615

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am both a fan of blockchain and VR. I also have a strong cynic inside of me that trashes on both of them whenever it can. It's fun being me I suppose :) Blockchain is IMO in a much much much more questionable state of relevancy and usefulness than VR. Why? I workout in VR (supplemental workouts by playing Eleven Table Tennis to the max). I boardgame in VR (Demeo). My GF picks up my headset and plays Beatsaber. You…

> VR has tons of uses! Basically, limited to niche games and simulation training. Where as AR has more usefulness than VR does. But it doesn't matter since Meta is working in both of those industries. > Whereas with blockchain, well, it's mostly used for speculation and I still haven't seen people use it as a legitimate currency. What is wrong with using stablecoins? Everyone knows Bitcoin has failed in being useful…

Stablecoins have the worst of both worlds. You have the stablecoin issuers printing like crazy and you have the no chargebacks part of crypto.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#968

Post by vmilner »

citizenpaul wrote: post #672
Melkman wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I like VR I have to agree it will stay a niche product. The need to wear something on your head is a major hurdle. Like 3D TV's that have mostly disappeared. Also when you are in a VR environment you want to interact with it. You need free physical space to do that which is an other hurdle. There are more niches than gaming only though. Like education and product design and demonstration.

The main problem with 3D tv was the content. 3D really only works with bad movies like resident evil. You are not going to have need or want 3d in a movie that is an oscar contender. (Avatar as the single exception)

"Gravity" won seven Oscars.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#970

Post by yason »

BbzzbB wrote: post #905
yason wrote: post #601

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since then, Facebook have innovated very little. I hope they hadn't even tried. Initially, Facebook offered lots of value in the early years in the form that users were actually able to follow their friends' lives and stay connected. You had a bunch of friends and you would see a mostly chronological list of what they had posted that you read until you recognized something you had already seen. If they had kept it th…

Just use facebook.com/?sk=h_chr, you'll get your chronological feed minus the content recommender.

That unfortunately doesn't work and hasn't ever. I do get a different selection of recent posts (instead of top posts) but only a few, they're mostly the same through a day, and I'm still missing out on most of my friend's posts (which I can cross-check by visiting friends' profiles).

There used to be way to view posts off a friend list, and you could then create a list of all of your friends to emulate the old newsfeed (or The Wall). This at least tried to work except it also only tracked back so far, it still did miss posts (but not as many as the other two views), and most importantly the friend list feed was scrapped last year.

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