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So this was quite expected anyway. Though initially the acquisition seemed to be a defensive one where FB prevents Wechat kind of features coming from Whatsapp,

So this was quite expected anyway. Though initially the acquisition seemed to be a defensive one where FB prevents Wechat kind of features coming from Whatsapp, the amount of data whatsapp has, is a treasure trove for all the advertisers and as a public company, FB just did what is expected by the shareholders. But it's kinda scary that emperor Zuck has so much power over the people, like FB/Messenger/Whatsapp/Instagram are the top apps everyone uses. I am glad Snapchat didn't sell out.

ffggvv 10y ago
So much power? You give him power. Just delete your facebook account and uninstall their apps!
- throwanem 10y ago
  And watch your friendships grow stale, lose touch with your family members, opt out of knowing about upcoming events... The phrase "network effect" exists for a reason. Where people don't think about keeping in touch with others in any terms other than Facebook, refusing to play along with Facebook comes with serious consequences.
  - MrZongle2 10y ago
    "And watch your friendships grow stale, lose touch with your family members, opt out of knowing about upcoming events..." And how exactly do you think these things worked before Facebook? "Friends" who don't want to make the effort to stay in touch outside of a dead-simple social app aren't friends, anyway.
    - throwanem 10y ago
      I mean, yeah, that's easy to say and all, and it makes you feel special and everything. It's also horseshit. The problem is not that your friends don't care enough about you to keep in touch by means other than Facebook. The problem is that Facebook has so completely insinuated itself into and throughout a billion people's interpersonal relationships that your friends don't even think about keeping in touch by means other than Facebook. Put another way, we find ourselves in a situation where a single, rather secretive corporation mediates the interactions of a significant fraction of the species, and has already been known to manipulate the perception of its users in ways which might be to its benefit. When I was a kid, this would've been no more than fodder for third-rate dystopian sf which even fans of the genre mostly wouldn't take seriously. And yet, somehow, here we are.
      - ffggvv 10y ago
        It's your fault too, you know? Why give the fault to a corporation when we are giving them pieces of our lives? Fights aren't easy, but this fight is important for our society and our children. > Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. This is a fight, our fight. For freedom, free speech and privacy. > I mean, yeah, that's easy to say and all, and it makes you feel special and everything. It's also horseshit. I bet it makes you feel special writing that phrase (isn't it?).
        throwanem 10y ago
        It's nice to live in a world where everything is simple. I wish I did.
        ffggvv 10y ago
        I wish it too. But it's your choice. Also don't write stuff like this.... > Put another way, we find ourselves in a situation where a single, rather secretive corporation mediates the interactions of a significant fraction of the species, and has already been known to manipulate the perception of its users in ways which might be to its benefit. When I was a kid, this would've been no more than fodder for third-rate dystopian sf which even fans of the genre mostly wouldn't take seriously. And yet, somehow, here we are. ...because you don't really care.
        throwanem 10y ago
        I think it's adorable how you just casually assume I have a Facebook account and I'm speaking in purely theoretical terms here. It's not that I don't want to see Facebook killed with an axe. I'm just not so foolish as to imagine that browbeating people will make that more likely. Don't confuse the two.
        ffggvv 10y ago
        I'm really sorry, I generalized. I read your other comments, thanks for standing against facebook.
    - tgsovlerkhgsel 10y ago
      "worked" is the key word here. When the letters were the common way to contact people, people would contact you by letter. If you refused to communicate in different ways than with letters, people would communicate less with you than with others, because it would be a pain in the ass. They'd organize a party on short notice, and then realize that the letter won't reach you in time (or that they don't have envelopes and stamps anymore because they no longer send letters). The same applies to this sort of app today, sadly.
      - throwanem 10y ago
        Only more so. Back when people kept their address books in actual books, you wouldn't, for example, miss getting a wedding invitation, because you weren't sent one, because the people getting married forgot to think about anything except their Facebook contacts list when they made their invitation list. Because everyone's on Facebook. I almost caved, the second time that happened. What stopped me was being prompted for my email account credentials, so Facebook could mine my more than decade-long correspondence for social graph data. I know enough about abusive relationships not to overlook an opening boundary test like that. So that was the end of my Facebook experiment. In any case, by that point the damage was probably done. Someone else here said something about having his Facebook departure be a conversation starter. Doesn't always work that way. When I tell people about that email prompt, they just look at me funny and go "you know you can skip that, right?" Which, of course, I do know, but see above re: abusive relationships. Maybe I can talk my way out of taking a punch this time, but every time? That metaphor doesn't seem to cut much ice with anyone, though. No idea why. Maybe it's a little over the top. Maybe people are just so accustomed to think about Facebook as part of the environment, and take it totally for granted, that it doesn't occur to them to regard what I'm saying as anything but incomprehensibly weird. Maybe I'm an obstreperous pain in the ass. I'm sure at least one of those is true. But who knows? I mean, I don't ask; I just steer the conversation somewhere more mutually enjoyable, because I go to bars to drink and enjoy talking with people, not to pretend to be Richard Stallman.
        intended 10y ago
        Yeah, it is too over the top for most people. I don't move in tech circles, and the few friends who I do speak to about this, tend to dismiss this as tin foil hattery.

ffggvv 10y ago

So much power? You give him power. Just delete your facebook account and uninstall their apps!

throwanem 10y ago
And watch your friendships grow stale, lose touch with your family members, opt out of knowing about upcoming events... The phrase "network effect" exists for a reason. Where people don't think about keeping in touch with others in any terms other than Facebook, refusing to play along with Facebook comes with serious consequences.
- MrZongle2 10y ago
  "And watch your friendships grow stale, lose touch with your family members, opt out of knowing about upcoming events..." And how exactly do you think these things worked before Facebook? "Friends" who don't want to make the effort to stay in touch outside of a dead-simple social app aren't friends, anyway.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    I mean, yeah, that's easy to say and all, and it makes you feel special and everything. It's also horseshit. The problem is not that your friends don't care enough about you to keep in touch by means other than Facebook. The problem is that Facebook has so completely insinuated itself into and throughout a billion people's interpersonal relationships that your friends don't even think about keeping in touch by means other than Facebook. Put another way, we find ourselves in a situation where a single, rather secretive corporation mediates the interactions of a significant fraction of the species, and has already been known to manipulate the perception of its users in ways which might be to its benefit. When I was a kid, this would've been no more than fodder for third-rate dystopian sf which even fans of the genre mostly wouldn't take seriously. And yet, somehow, here we are.
    - ffggvv 10y ago
      It's your fault too, you know? Why give the fault to a corporation when we are giving them pieces of our lives? Fights aren't easy, but this fight is important for our society and our children. > Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. This is a fight, our fight. For freedom, free speech and privacy. > I mean, yeah, that's easy to say and all, and it makes you feel special and everything. It's also horseshit. I bet it makes you feel special writing that phrase (isn't it?).
      - throwanem 10y ago
        It's nice to live in a world where everything is simple. I wish I did.
        ffggvv 10y ago
        I wish it too. But it's your choice. Also don't write stuff like this.... > Put another way, we find ourselves in a situation where a single, rather secretive corporation mediates the interactions of a significant fraction of the species, and has already been known to manipulate the perception of its users in ways which might be to its benefit. When I was a kid, this would've been no more than fodder for third-rate dystopian sf which even fans of the genre mostly wouldn't take seriously. And yet, somehow, here we are. ...because you don't really care.
        throwanem 10y ago
        I think it's adorable how you just casually assume I have a Facebook account and I'm speaking in purely theoretical terms here. It's not that I don't want to see Facebook killed with an axe. I'm just not so foolish as to imagine that browbeating people will make that more likely. Don't confuse the two.
        ffggvv 10y ago
        I'm really sorry, I generalized. I read your other comments, thanks for standing against facebook.
  - tgsovlerkhgsel 10y ago
    "worked" is the key word here. When the letters were the common way to contact people, people would contact you by letter. If you refused to communicate in different ways than with letters, people would communicate less with you than with others, because it would be a pain in the ass. They'd organize a party on short notice, and then realize that the letter won't reach you in time (or that they don't have envelopes and stamps anymore because they no longer send letters). The same applies to this sort of app today, sadly.
    - throwanem 10y ago
      Only more so. Back when people kept their address books in actual books, you wouldn't, for example, miss getting a wedding invitation, because you weren't sent one, because the people getting married forgot to think about anything except their Facebook contacts list when they made their invitation list. Because everyone's on Facebook. I almost caved, the second time that happened. What stopped me was being prompted for my email account credentials, so Facebook could mine my more than decade-long correspondence for social graph data. I know enough about abusive relationships not to overlook an opening boundary test like that. So that was the end of my Facebook experiment. In any case, by that point the damage was probably done. Someone else here said something about having his Facebook departure be a conversation starter. Doesn't always work that way. When I tell people about that email prompt, they just look at me funny and go "you know you can skip that, right?" Which, of course, I do know, but see above re: abusive relationships. Maybe I can talk my way out of taking a punch this time, but every time? That metaphor doesn't seem to cut much ice with anyone, though. No idea why. Maybe it's a little over the top. Maybe people are just so accustomed to think about Facebook as part of the environment, and take it totally for granted, that it doesn't occur to them to regard what I'm saying as anything but incomprehensibly weird. Maybe I'm an obstreperous pain in the ass. I'm sure at least one of those is true. But who knows? I mean, I don't ask; I just steer the conversation somewhere more mutually enjoyable, because I go to bars to drink and enjoy talking with people, not to pretend to be Richard Stallman.
      - intended 10y ago
        Yeah, it is too over the top for most people. I don't move in tech circles, and the few friends who I do speak to about this, tend to dismiss this as tin foil hattery.