4 ms·

Agreed. People that were in college in the 00s and used Facebook totally understand that the original value proposition. Facebook was actually an elitist soci

Agreed. People that were in college in the 00s and used Facebook totally understand that the original value proposition. Facebook was actually an elitist social network - an experience not only devoid of parents, grandparents, but people who didn't go to college. And early on, people who didn't go to moderately "important" colleges. No "importantcollegehere.edu" email address - no Facebook account. You could use MySpace. Facebook kept people out - it's mission was definitely not to "connect everyone in the world" (or whatever). And there wasn't a news feed. An obvious use case was gathering intel on classmates you found attractive. Through thousands of small mutations, Facebook has evolved into what it is today. And people that think Facebook is true to its roots are wrong. Completely wrong.

dbg31415 10y ago
> No "importantcollegehere.edu" email address - no Facebook account. You could use MySpace. Yeah... you get it. (= I don't know that it was our goal to be elitist... but certainly it helped that we knew it was a small group of people who had access to what we posted online. It felt safe. And even after it expanded to other colleges, it still felt like a college thing. Many colleges still put out paper "face books" and so we had that connection. But once we graduated and realized it was suddenly for everyone, and all of our posts that we made to a small group were now visible to everyone... ugh it was just such a turn off. Seeing a parent or grandparent commenting on a status update or photo we shared from a party, "Oh shit, my mom can see this stuff?! How do I delete it?!" I bet there's some market for a school-wide system that only lets you communicate with people who would have been on campus the same time you were... so like pick 3-4 years in either direction. Try and mimic the first Facebook rollout... But I don't know, if anyone had the magic solution they'd have built it by now... personally -- as I said in the previous post -- this shit just all makes me cringe now. I can't even look at someone's Facebook feed without losing respect for everyone involved. It's all so smug and self-promotion of crap. "I'm going to say something, and all my friends will like it to affirm they are my friends!" Just creepy.
- type0 10y ago
  > It's all so smug and self-promotion of crap. "I'm going to say something, and all my friends will like it to affirm they are my friends!" Just creepy. It's because FB rides the wave of recent narcissist epidemic, also it's good for gossips and bullying - closed groups you're not invited to can talk shit behind your back.
rexpop 10y ago
It what way is it desirable for a business to remain "true to its roots"? What value does your nostalgia — for an inorganic, venture-backed cash machine — serve you, your society or your species?

dbg31415 10y ago

> No "importantcollegehere.edu" email address - no Facebook account. You could use MySpace. Yeah... you get it. (= I don't know that it was our goal to be elitist... but certainly it helped that we knew it was a small group of people who had access to what we posted online. It felt safe. And even after it expanded to other colleges, it still felt like a college thing. Many colleges still put out paper "face books" and so we had that connection. But once we graduated and realized it was suddenly for everyone, and all of our posts that we made to a small group were now visible to everyone... ugh it was just such a turn off. Seeing a parent or grandparent commenting on a status update or photo we shared from a party, "Oh shit, my mom can see this stuff?! How do I delete it?!" I bet there's some market for a school-wide system that only lets you communicate with people who would have been on campus the same time you were... so like pick 3-4 years in either direction. Try and mimic the first Facebook rollout... But I don't know, if anyone had the magic solution they'd have built it by now... personally -- as I said in the previous post -- this shit just all makes me cringe now. I can't even look at someone's Facebook feed without losing respect for everyone involved. It's all so smug and self-promotion of crap. "I'm going to say something, and all my friends will like it to affirm they are my friends!" Just creepy.

type0 10y ago
> It's all so smug and self-promotion of crap. "I'm going to say something, and all my friends will like it to affirm they are my friends!" Just creepy. It's because FB rides the wave of recent narcissist epidemic, also it's good for gossips and bullying - closed groups you're not invited to can talk shit behind your back.

rexpop 10y ago

It what way is it desirable for a business to remain "true to its roots"? What value does your nostalgia — for an inorganic, venture-backed cash machine — serve you, your society or your species?