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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

#991

Post by godshatter »

signal11 wrote: post #660
randomsearch wrote: post #504

This is how the narrative of Facebook looks to me: Zuckerberg got lucky and then executed brilliantly, transitioned from nerd hacker to CEO amazingly well. He deserves a lot of credit for that. Since then, Facebook have innovated very little. Zuckerberg recognised this, and bought Instagram and Whatsapp in lieu of building an innovative company. The latter is clearly really difficult to do. Without a stream of new id…

Ironically, Facebook was great back when MySpace and Orkut wasn’t a great experience. I suspect that’s because it wouldn’t just let anybody in. Looking back, the decision to open Facebook up to everyone was (in my book) a bad one. I’ll use the nightclub analogy — a good social network, like a good nightclub, must have bouncers (of sorts) to ensure a quality experience. I realise the conflict between this and Metcalfe…

I don't think they would do well if they switched to a pay-only system, but they might offer special features as subscriber-only or put limits on certain things in the free tier. If they offered no or limited ads and a simple chronological feed from friends in their paid tier, they might do well. Sort of the "get everyone in the world addicted to your crappy product and then make them pay to get a reasonable version of it" model.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#992

Post by jamal-kumar »

uncomputation wrote: post #875
dionidium wrote: post #863

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This probably sounds like a real zinger to a certain kind of young person who moved to Brooklyn and thinks everybody back home is a total loser, but this is not the modal Facebook user, so I'm not sure it matters much.

You’re trying to characterize OP as a condescending out of touch hipster, but in my opinion your characterization of the “modal” Facebook user is actually more so. The “modal” Facebook user is equally capable of being dissatisfied with the product as your 2013 hipster caricature is because FB has failed to deliver on its mission. The social side is boring and doesn’t generate as much engagement because it turns out y…

"2013 hipster caricature"

"largely irrelevant to your life a decade later."

hey, 2013 was about a decade ago, you nailed it

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#993

Post by quanticle »

prostoalex wrote: post #852
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…

Cal Newport's "Digital Minimalism" addresses this common use-case scenario. 1) Remove the apps from your phone and log out on mobile browser, making each future login a concentrated intentional effort. (You can leave Messenger if that might be used for emergency contacts). 2) Use www version only. 3) Choose a time when you're going to sit by your home computer, and use social media for some pre-determined time slot,…

The social networks are very good at serving this use case - showing most important content first, and relegating the junky stuff further down the feed.

Only up to a point. I have actually missed wedding announcements because the announcement was pushed far down by more recent but less relevant news. Yes, if you use Facebook for 30 minutes a day, you probably won't miss anything. But if you use Facebook less often than that (like an hour a week, or once a month), you will absolutely miss relevant news because it'll be pushed down by whatever political shoutfest is currently drawing comments and reactions.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#994

Post by aaroninsf »

A shame Facebook hasn't seen the massive upside in pivoting to "be a force for saving democracy, with a side line in diminishing inequity, political (and wealth!) polarization, and inculcating respect for the commons, the middle ground, and public wellbeing."

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#995

Post by rednerrus »

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…

It seems like it should be easy for FB to pivot to the content graph. Their ability to serve relevant ads is unrivaled. They should be able to do the same with content. Old people buy stuff and love FB. MLM people love Instagram and buy stuff. FB should just roll out a new short video platform, pay influencers a lot to join, and use their algorithm to recommend the best content.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#996

Post by stevofolife »

BaldricksGhost wrote: post #782
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…

"Facebook is where you find out your highschool friend is super in to a MLM, your uncle has drastic political views you don't share, and that your historical social class and network is largely irrelevant to your life a decade later." This is probably the most accurate description of Facebook I've seen.

Actually it’s not. Your early life social group becoming irrelevant to your life a decade later is NOT representative at all. What is accurate to say is the OP is not connecting with his old friends anymore. But let’s be real here, not everyone’s like that. Facebook is just a tool to connect with people. Attributing and expecting Facebook to make your friendships more relevant and meaningful is foolish and hopeless.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#998

Post by annadane »

quanticle wrote: post #993
prostoalex wrote: post #852

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cal Newport's "Digital Minimalism" addresses this common use-case scenario. 1) Remove the apps from your phone and log out on mobile browser, making each future login a concentrated intentional effort. (You can leave Messenger if that might be used for emergency contacts). 2) Use www version only. 3) Choose a time when you're going to sit by your home computer, and use social media for some pre-determined time slot,…

The social networks are very good at serving this use case - showing most important content first, and relegating the junky stuff further down the feed. Only up to a point. I have actually missed wedding announcements because the announcement was pushed far down by more recent but less relevant news. Yes, if you use Facebook for 30 minutes a day, you probably won't miss anything. But if you use Facebook less often th…

> Yes, if you use Facebook for 30 minutes a day, you probably won't miss anything. But if you use Facebook less often than that (like an hour a week, or once a month)

Which I'm sure is complete coincidence and not at all intended to draw you into using Facebook every second of every hour of every day

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#999

Post by herbst »

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 quit having a phone number and just rent virtual ones for shitty webservices that force me to have a number. Zero regrets.

I quit Facebook years ago and do not miss anything either, so maybe it's just me.

Re: Facebook loses users for the first time

#1000

Post by BbzzbB »

yason wrote: post #970
BbzzbB wrote: post #905

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 newsf…

I've had no problem with it, no repetitions and only what follows post.
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