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I posted this comment a few weeks ago, but this seems super relevant to extend the author's point. I agree that Facebook is a walled garden. But in the develo

I posted this comment a few weeks ago, but this seems super relevant to extend the author's point. I agree that Facebook is a walled garden. But in the developed world, Facebook is just part of the internet that people use. However, in some parts of the developing world, Facebook is the only internet people use. ------ Facebook's dominance is even more pronounced in parts of the developing world. I've met people in Asia (Myanmar and Nepal) who have just accessed the internet for the first time in the past 12-24 months (through their Android smartphones). But they don't know the true internet - they only know the internet through the Facebook app. They use it like we use Google and web browsers. To them, Facebook is the internet. They don't have email accounts. They don't use the browser. They don't search the web. I met someone in a small town who never even used the maps feature. I tried to think of what value the true internet might bring them, but when I suggested that "you can search for news and read other things", the response was that they already did that with the Facebook App. One guy handed me his phone, so I could add myself as a friend on his Facebook. While I started typing my name, I noticed his search history... and to him, Facebook was even a substitute for what people in the USA might use Incognito mode for! I would call Facebook their internet portal, but it's not really a portal to anything - Facebook is just the entire internet to them. Buzzfeed (yes, Buzzfeed) did an excellent writeup of Myanmar, that mirrors what I saw there: https://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/fake-news-spreads-trump-around-the-world?utm_term=.wb6pxGMyM#.qlR21yOxO https://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/fake-news-spreads-tru... “Nobody asks, they don’t care about the email,” he said, explaining that most don’t know that creating an email address is free, and easy. “No one is using that. They have Facebook.”

axaxs 9y ago
They do this BS in every 'poor' nation. In many, they even offer 'free facebook' as a carrier perk. The sooner facebook dies, the better.
downrightmike 9y ago
That is super depressing.
yla92 9y ago
Folk from Myanmar (but working in Singapore) here. People in my country, they regard Facebook as "The Internet". They walked into the mobile phone shop, they asked for "open Facebook for 3$" which comes with a FB account, followed the celebrity pages etc. They do everything you can imagine on FB. Now there are "digital agencies" who take care of the celebrity/company FB pages, post click-bait articles, run campaigns and throw money for advertising. I don't think these things are going to change anytime soon and I don't have an answer. So, either promote yourself, things you are doing, on FB or your online presence is mere. Just sad.
- tuna-piano 9y ago
  Do you think this will change overtime as people become familiar with technology and the internet? Like do people start with Facebook and it later becomes a gateway to the internet, or do they start within only Facebook and stay within only Facebook? I also assume people in the bigger cities (especially Yangon, but also Mandalay) use computers+the actual web for work, university and pleasure... right?
  - 659087 9y ago
    Facebook's zero rating programs are being implemented to discourage these people from ever finding out that Facebook isn't "the internet". They even went as far as to use the name "internet.org".
  - yla92 9y ago
    > Do you think this will change overtime as people become familiar with technology and the internet? Maybe. I can't say for sure. People start with Facebook and they stay with Facebook for now. Most businesses (tech agencies or startups) are also forming around Facebook. Of course, a few companies are doing okay by doing games, marketplace, and entertainment related apps/websites. For them, a big problem is an online payment method and non-existent infrastructure. For the government, there are just more important problems for the government. Eventually, online safety and education are necessary, I think. Yeap. I see people, especially younger folks, use laptop/desktop computers for work, school and for entertainment. The margin of mobile users are desktop users is still a big gap, I suppose.

axaxs 9y ago

They do this BS in every 'poor' nation. In many, they even offer 'free facebook' as a carrier perk. The sooner facebook dies, the better.

downrightmike 9y ago

That is super depressing.

yla92 9y ago

Folk from Myanmar (but working in Singapore) here. People in my country, they regard Facebook as "The Internet". They walked into the mobile phone shop, they asked for "open Facebook for 3$" which comes with a FB account, followed the celebrity pages etc. They do everything you can imagine on FB. Now there are "digital agencies" who take care of the celebrity/company FB pages, post click-bait articles, run campaigns and throw money for advertising. I don't think these things are going to change anytime soon and I don't have an answer. So, either promote yourself, things you are doing, on FB or your online presence is mere. Just sad.

tuna-piano 9y ago
Do you think this will change overtime as people become familiar with technology and the internet? Like do people start with Facebook and it later becomes a gateway to the internet, or do they start within only Facebook and stay within only Facebook? I also assume people in the bigger cities (especially Yangon, but also Mandalay) use computers+the actual web for work, university and pleasure... right?
- 659087 9y ago
  Facebook's zero rating programs are being implemented to discourage these people from ever finding out that Facebook isn't "the internet". They even went as far as to use the name "internet.org".
- yla92 9y ago
  > Do you think this will change overtime as people become familiar with technology and the internet? Maybe. I can't say for sure. People start with Facebook and they stay with Facebook for now. Most businesses (tech agencies or startups) are also forming around Facebook. Of course, a few companies are doing okay by doing games, marketplace, and entertainment related apps/websites. For them, a big problem is an online payment method and non-existent infrastructure. For the government, there are just more important problems for the government. Eventually, online safety and education are necessary, I think. Yeap. I see people, especially younger folks, use laptop/desktop computers for work, school and for entertainment. The margin of mobile users are desktop users is still a big gap, I suppose.