4 ms·

Lyft - Uber might be a Facebook - MySpace story.

hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
Actually, it's on a smaller scale but I was thinking a "Digg - Reddit" analogy was more appropriate. Reddit was much smaller than Digg for years: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2005-06-01%202011-06-30&q=digg,reddit https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2005-06-01%202... . Reddit was definitely "the little engine that could" for about 6 years, but it was really in 2010 when Digg imploded with the self-inflicted wounds of Digg v4 when Reddit really took off. In other words, MySpace losing to Facebook seemed largely because Facebook just had a better product (cleaner, focused on real identities), while Digg, like Uber, largely was the victim of self-inflicted wounds.
- aantix 9y ago
  I mentioned the Digg vs Reddit analogy in relation to Uber/Lyft about a month ago... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14054803 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14054803
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  I remember differently, the release of digg v4 was the last nail in the digg coffing and the tipping point happened about a year before that with the famous ncomment 'Digg vs Reddit' webcomics. When this got to digg front page, well, let's say it was right on point. Sorry, I know flickr sucks but it seems ncomment original website is now gone, the comics survived on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/25036088@N06/sets/72157615924666317 https://www.flickr.com/photos/25036088@N06/sets/721576159246...
  - hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
    You maybe could argue the shift started earlier, but the floodgates really opened on Digg v4. I was one of the "Digg refugees" who joined reddit at that time, and there were hoards of others that did the same.
danso 9y ago
That's an interesting way to put it. Facebook seemed destined to overtake MySpace as it provided useful data connections (college courses/networks) and a uniform design that MySpace did not have. Lyft has pretty much been trying to be a drop-in replacement for Uber (to be fair, Uber nicked a few ideas from Lyft), with no projects like automation or even Uber's attempts at being a delivery service. If Lyft ends up winning, it's going to be a much more unexpected win than Facebook over MySpace. Edit: the innovation of the News Feed can't be overstated. IIRC, MySpace had nothing like it and it's hard to remember Facebook before it.
- nebula 9y ago
  I wonder why MySpace couldn't copy some of these features from FB.
  - wapz 9y ago
    If you were an early adopter of FB it was exclusive to college students and had a much, much more "mature" audience to myspace. That factor alone attracted a huge crowd that myspace couldn't touch. In terms of UI and whatnot, myspace never really forced/required users to use their real name which I also feel gave FB a huge advantage going forth. The rest of the UI myspace could have copied though (but by that time it probably was too late).
  - bigbugbag 9y ago
    Myspace was designed from the get go to be sold to a big company so it has little inherent value. Rupert Murdoch bought Myspace for quite a sum as an attempt to get into the online business because all their attempts failed miserably for a lack of understanding and vision. The same drove myspace to its expected outcome.
noway421 9y ago
MySpace in that story might have not had $14.8b raised in capital.
bigbugbag 9y ago
So which one, Lyft or Uber, is the one being made for the purpose of being sold to a giant company ?

Actually, it's on a smaller scale but I was thinking a "Digg - Reddit" analogy was more appropriate. Reddit was much smaller than Digg for years: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2005-06-01%202011-06-30&q=digg,reddit https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2005-06-01%202... . Reddit was definitely "the little engine that could" for about 6 years, but it was really in 2010 when Digg imploded with the self-inflicted wounds of Digg v4 when Reddit really took off. In other words, MySpace losing to Facebook seemed largely because Facebook just had a better product (cleaner, focused on real identities), while Digg, like Uber, largely was the victim of self-inflicted wounds.

aantix 9y ago
I mentioned the Digg vs Reddit analogy in relation to Uber/Lyft about a month ago... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14054803 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14054803
bigbugbag 9y ago
I remember differently, the release of digg v4 was the last nail in the digg coffing and the tipping point happened about a year before that with the famous ncomment 'Digg vs Reddit' webcomics. When this got to digg front page, well, let's say it was right on point. Sorry, I know flickr sucks but it seems ncomment original website is now gone, the comics survived on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/25036088@N06/sets/72157615924666317 https://www.flickr.com/photos/25036088@N06/sets/721576159246...
- hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
  You maybe could argue the shift started earlier, but the floodgates really opened on Digg v4. I was one of the "Digg refugees" who joined reddit at that time, and there were hoards of others that did the same.

danso 9y ago

That's an interesting way to put it. Facebook seemed destined to overtake MySpace as it provided useful data connections (college courses/networks) and a uniform design that MySpace did not have. Lyft has pretty much been trying to be a drop-in replacement for Uber (to be fair, Uber nicked a few ideas from Lyft), with no projects like automation or even Uber's attempts at being a delivery service. If Lyft ends up winning, it's going to be a much more unexpected win than Facebook over MySpace. Edit: the innovation of the News Feed can't be overstated. IIRC, MySpace had nothing like it and it's hard to remember Facebook before it.

nebula 9y ago
I wonder why MySpace couldn't copy some of these features from FB.
- wapz 9y ago
  If you were an early adopter of FB it was exclusive to college students and had a much, much more "mature" audience to myspace. That factor alone attracted a huge crowd that myspace couldn't touch. In terms of UI and whatnot, myspace never really forced/required users to use their real name which I also feel gave FB a huge advantage going forth. The rest of the UI myspace could have copied though (but by that time it probably was too late).
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  Myspace was designed from the get go to be sold to a big company so it has little inherent value. Rupert Murdoch bought Myspace for quite a sum as an attempt to get into the online business because all their attempts failed miserably for a lack of understanding and vision. The same drove myspace to its expected outcome.

noway421 9y ago

MySpace in that story might have not had $14.8b raised in capital.

bigbugbag 9y ago

So which one, Lyft or Uber, is the one being made for the purpose of being sold to a giant company ?