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Facebook has been buying all social networks it feels are a competitive threat to it. First it bought insta then it bought WhatsApp it tried to buy Snapchat was

Facebook has been buying all social networks it feels are a competitive threat to it. First it bought insta then it bought WhatsApp it tried to buy Snapchat wasn't successful so copied it in insta. One of the things I read a lot on hn is how Facebook has killed privacy and people try not to use it etc. But I personally stopped using Facebook not because of privacy concerns but because Facebook has been making an open web into a private web. And more and more stuff that in the past would have been on company websites is available on Facebook alone and sometimes not accessible without a Facebook account.

heymijo 9y ago
What struck me from the article was how facebook knew what social networks are competitive threats. They're tracking what apps you use on your phone. "Facebook uses an internal database to track rivals, including young startups performing unusually well, people familiar with the system say. The database stems from Facebook’s 2013 acquisition of a Tel Aviv-based startup, Onavo, which had built an app that secures users’ privacy by routing their traffic through private servers. The app gives Facebook an unusually detailed look at what users collectively do on their phones, these people say. The tool shaped Facebook’s decision to buy WhatsApp and informed its live-video strategy, they say. Facebook used Onavo to build its early-bird tool that tips it off to promising services and that helped Facebook home in on Houseparty"
- willstrafach 9y ago
  To add context: Other companies, such as App Annie, offer free VPN services (under a different company name) in order to track this type of engagement data. It appears to be very valuable.
  - goatforce5 9y ago
    App Annie's service is "VPN Defender", apparently: https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/31/app-annie-fills-the-void-left-by-facebooks-onavo-acquisition-with-its-new-company-smart-sense/ https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/31/app-annie-fills-the-void-l...
HugoDaniel 9y ago
The dream of the open web is long gone. IMO it started to fade when google ditched their reader (rss/atom) in prol of g+ :(

heymijo 9y ago

What struck me from the article was how facebook knew what social networks are competitive threats. They're tracking what apps you use on your phone. "Facebook uses an internal database to track rivals, including young startups performing unusually well, people familiar with the system say. The database stems from Facebook’s 2013 acquisition of a Tel Aviv-based startup, Onavo, which had built an app that secures users’ privacy by routing their traffic through private servers. The app gives Facebook an unusually detailed look at what users collectively do on their phones, these people say. The tool shaped Facebook’s decision to buy WhatsApp and informed its live-video strategy, they say. Facebook used Onavo to build its early-bird tool that tips it off to promising services and that helped Facebook home in on Houseparty"

willstrafach 9y ago
To add context: Other companies, such as App Annie, offer free VPN services (under a different company name) in order to track this type of engagement data. It appears to be very valuable.
- goatforce5 9y ago
  App Annie's service is "VPN Defender", apparently: https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/31/app-annie-fills-the-void-left-by-facebooks-onavo-acquisition-with-its-new-company-smart-sense/ https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/31/app-annie-fills-the-void-l...

HugoDaniel 9y ago

The dream of the open web is long gone. IMO it started to fade when google ditched their reader (rss/atom) in prol of g+ :(