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"... and then installed Instagram." Instagram usage in the US has been increasing faster than people have been abandoning FB[1]. I may be a cynic, but whats th

"... and then installed Instagram." Instagram usage in the US has been increasing faster than people have been abandoning FB[1]. I may be a cynic, but whats the biggest consequence of people moving from FB to Insta? Probably not having to pay all of the tech debt FB incurred during its meteoric rise. [1]: https://www.spredfast.com/social-media-tips/social-media-demographics-current https://www.spredfast.com/social-media-tips/social-media-dem...

mtgx 8y ago
Both the EU and US groups have called for breaking Facebook up. More specifically, they want WhatsApp and Instagram to be separated from Facebook. Facebook should have never been allowed to buy Instagram, just like Google should have never been allowed to buy AdMob and perhaps Deepmind and a few other companies. It hurts competition and the economy (in the long term) when large players can just buy out anyone that presents a threat to them, and then either integrate them into their main service or shut them down. Facebook has been trying lately to get Instagram people to post more om Facebook for instance. Facebook also attempted to buy Snapchat at one point. If the rules to stop such mergers don't yet exist, then maybe someone should invent them. Much more often than not the consequences of these mergers and consolidations, as well as various crimes the big companies commit, are dealt with when it's way too late, and the companies have profited much more than what the punishment takes away a decade later.
- tomrod 8y ago
  Oligopolies are also how we get business driving fundamental R&D. The tradeoff isn't as clear cut as Econ 201 makes it, because in additional to the above point you also have a difference between oligopolies and monopolistic competition.
  - goliatone 8y ago
    I would be curious to read some literature supporting this idea. Oligopolies driving R&D sounds counterintuitive to me.
    - tomrod 8y ago
      Sure! There is a lot of lit, here is the basic idea. On mobile now, hit me up via github (same name) for academic refs later? http://www2.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/eco211/lectures/monopoly/dynamicefficiency.htm http://www2.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/eco211/lectures/monopol...
deleted 8y ago
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kolbe 8y ago
I don't see what part of your link supports your statement. Losing 44% of 18-29s is massive, and I can't accept your assertion without data to support it.

mtgx 8y ago

Both the EU and US groups have called for breaking Facebook up. More specifically, they want WhatsApp and Instagram to be separated from Facebook. Facebook should have never been allowed to buy Instagram, just like Google should have never been allowed to buy AdMob and perhaps Deepmind and a few other companies. It hurts competition and the economy (in the long term) when large players can just buy out anyone that presents a threat to them, and then either integrate them into their main service or shut them down. Facebook has been trying lately to get Instagram people to post more om Facebook for instance. Facebook also attempted to buy Snapchat at one point. If the rules to stop such mergers don't yet exist, then maybe someone should invent them. Much more often than not the consequences of these mergers and consolidations, as well as various crimes the big companies commit, are dealt with when it's way too late, and the companies have profited much more than what the punishment takes away a decade later.

tomrod 8y ago
Oligopolies are also how we get business driving fundamental R&D. The tradeoff isn't as clear cut as Econ 201 makes it, because in additional to the above point you also have a difference between oligopolies and monopolistic competition.
- goliatone 8y ago
  I would be curious to read some literature supporting this idea. Oligopolies driving R&D sounds counterintuitive to me.
  - tomrod 8y ago
    Sure! There is a lot of lit, here is the basic idea. On mobile now, hit me up via github (same name) for academic refs later? http://www2.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/eco211/lectures/monopoly/dynamicefficiency.htm http://www2.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/eco211/lectures/monopol...

deleted 8y ago

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kolbe 8y ago

I don't see what part of your link supports your statement. Losing 44% of 18-29s is massive, and I can't accept your assertion without data to support it.