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There's a string of submissions critical of Facebook on HN recently. I agree and approve. But one thing interests me: doesn't Facebook have something like that

by b0rsuk 9y ago

There's a string of submissions critical of Facebook on HN recently. I agree and approve. But one thing interests me: doesn't Facebook have something like that, but in reverse ? I mean updates along the lines "We need more Facebook", "Open internet is for nerds", "Why more websites need to migrate to Facebook"... ? Unless you have a Facebook account, you don't know what's going on on the other side of the barricade. One puzzling fact - stars on github: jquery/jquery - 45k, angular/angular - 25k, facebook/react - 68k, twbs/bootstrap - 111k, On my local job market (I live in a 500k city), react is the least popular JS framework. I keep seeing jquery and especially angular over and over. Meanwhile react, the facebookiest of JS frameworks, shows up least frequently. Yet React is the most popular JS framework and by a large margin! I suspect it's because job offers with 'react' are mostly circulated via facebook. I also see very little job offers with the 'facebook' keyword - mostly for non-technical people, like marketing, salesmen, assistants, various misc jobs. Hypothesis: we, outside Facebook, live in our own filter bubble. We don't get the whole picture.

blazespin 9y ago
I really like facebook. It's nice to stay in touch with your friends, especially when abroad.
- compiler-guy 9y ago
  Facebook is really nice for many usecases. But it could be way more open without ruining those usecases. It is just so hostile to non-facebook users. The primary example being the one cited in the article: The only reason to block 1/3 of a page to nonlogged in users is to convince you to either sign up or log in. There is no user-based reason to do so. That is open-web hostile. There is no need to make the all the content non-searchable, except to convince you to log in and search locally. That is open-web hostile. I used to think Google was bad for its intrusive "No really, you should log-in" campaigns, but facebook makes Google look so reasonable on this score.
  - wuliwong 9y ago
    I think the reason it seems so strange is because they do let some things be "public." There was a time when you could see zero content without being logged in to an account. I would prefer if Facebook were a 100% walled garden. It would make the usage more simple. But then Zuckerberg wouldn't have as much money, I suppose. Google is murky too but they were coming from the 100% open side of things. I just wish everyone would go back to their corners!
  - blazespin 9y ago
    For people who are privacy obsessed, just create a fake account. You'll find that all your friends are sympathetic and are more than happy to friend you. I know several people who do this and I happily friend them. My bday and location information is all fake, for example. I click on ads sometime when they peak my interest. I think once I actually bought something based on what I saw on Facebook, but I can't remember if it was because someone shared it or it was sponsored. I honestly don't know whether it matters or what the big deal is. Admittedly my profile picture is there. I worry about that sometimes and is probably my biggest concern. But it's not facebook's fault i posted a picture. There's no rule you can't see your friends posts if you don't post your own photo, and I have friends who just use a picture of their dog or something instead and it never bugs me. Honestly, Facebook is just a business and in return you look at ads now and then. If people had to pay I don't think it'd be very popular.
    - 659087 9y ago
      Your "fake account" isn't fooling Facebook if you're adding all of your real friends to it.. Nor is your fake information.
eridius 9y ago
> doesn't Facebook have something like that, but in reverse? Probably not. Your hypothetical headlines look like a parody. Also, I don't understand your comparison of jQuery and React. That really has nothing to do with Facebook being a walled garden or an attack on the open web.
s73ver 9y ago
I'd be willing to offer a different take: You life in a smaller-ish job market. I'd be willing to bet you have fewer of the hip, "bleeding edge" startups, and places that hop on the newest technologies right away. I'm guessing most of the companies are more technologically conservative. I'm not saying that as a bad thing, by any means. More that, they would rather work with proven technologies where the problems are known. That way, they can concentrate on whatever it is they want to do, rather than on the bugs of the alpha build of the flavor of the month.
- b0rsuk 9y ago
  That's largely true for my city, but I made the query on a country-wide job aggregator. Reactjs still the least popular.
pmlnr 9y ago
> Hypothesis: we, outside Facebook, live in our own filter bubble. We don't get the whole picture. I have a Facebook account, because I have non-nerd people I need to contact somehow and it seems like email is forgotten. Facebook offers one things: an extermely simple way to waste you time. Do not underestimate this! It's better, than TV, because you can even join cults claiming the world is lead by evil lizarmen - people actually do this, for "fun", because they are bored. That is all you'll find on the other side: bored people wasting time.
sfRattan 9y ago
I suspect the lower number of job postings related to react has to do with the legal language in the repository concerning patents[1] and the uncertainty that generates for many businesses, especially those in the 'social' space. Legal concerns often have as much weight as technical merits when deciding which framework to use for a project within a company. [1] https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/master/PATENTS https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/master/PATENTS

by b0rsuk 9y ago

blazespin 9y ago

I really like facebook. It's nice to stay in touch with your friends, especially when abroad.

compiler-guy 9y ago
Facebook is really nice for many usecases. But it could be way more open without ruining those usecases. It is just so hostile to non-facebook users. The primary example being the one cited in the article: The only reason to block 1/3 of a page to nonlogged in users is to convince you to either sign up or log in. There is no user-based reason to do so. That is open-web hostile. There is no need to make the all the content non-searchable, except to convince you to log in and search locally. That is open-web hostile. I used to think Google was bad for its intrusive "No really, you should log-in" campaigns, but facebook makes Google look so reasonable on this score.
- wuliwong 9y ago
  I think the reason it seems so strange is because they do let some things be "public." There was a time when you could see zero content without being logged in to an account. I would prefer if Facebook were a 100% walled garden. It would make the usage more simple. But then Zuckerberg wouldn't have as much money, I suppose. Google is murky too but they were coming from the 100% open side of things. I just wish everyone would go back to their corners!
- blazespin 9y ago
  For people who are privacy obsessed, just create a fake account. You'll find that all your friends are sympathetic and are more than happy to friend you. I know several people who do this and I happily friend them. My bday and location information is all fake, for example. I click on ads sometime when they peak my interest. I think once I actually bought something based on what I saw on Facebook, but I can't remember if it was because someone shared it or it was sponsored. I honestly don't know whether it matters or what the big deal is. Admittedly my profile picture is there. I worry about that sometimes and is probably my biggest concern. But it's not facebook's fault i posted a picture. There's no rule you can't see your friends posts if you don't post your own photo, and I have friends who just use a picture of their dog or something instead and it never bugs me. Honestly, Facebook is just a business and in return you look at ads now and then. If people had to pay I don't think it'd be very popular.
  - 659087 9y ago
    Your "fake account" isn't fooling Facebook if you're adding all of your real friends to it.. Nor is your fake information.

eridius 9y ago

> doesn't Facebook have something like that, but in reverse? Probably not. Your hypothetical headlines look like a parody. Also, I don't understand your comparison of jQuery and React. That really has nothing to do with Facebook being a walled garden or an attack on the open web.

s73ver 9y ago

I'd be willing to offer a different take: You life in a smaller-ish job market. I'd be willing to bet you have fewer of the hip, "bleeding edge" startups, and places that hop on the newest technologies right away. I'm guessing most of the companies are more technologically conservative. I'm not saying that as a bad thing, by any means. More that, they would rather work with proven technologies where the problems are known. That way, they can concentrate on whatever it is they want to do, rather than on the bugs of the alpha build of the flavor of the month.

b0rsuk 9y ago
That's largely true for my city, but I made the query on a country-wide job aggregator. Reactjs still the least popular.

pmlnr 9y ago

> Hypothesis: we, outside Facebook, live in our own filter bubble. We don't get the whole picture. I have a Facebook account, because I have non-nerd people I need to contact somehow and it seems like email is forgotten. Facebook offers one things: an extermely simple way to waste you time. Do not underestimate this! It's better, than TV, because you can even join cults claiming the world is lead by evil lizarmen - people actually do this, for "fun", because they are bored. That is all you'll find on the other side: bored people wasting time.

sfRattan 9y ago

I suspect the lower number of job postings related to react has to do with the legal language in the repository concerning patents[1] and the uncertainty that generates for many businesses, especially those in the 'social' space. Legal concerns often have as much weight as technical merits when deciding which framework to use for a project within a company. [1] https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/master/PATENTS https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/master/PATENTS