3 ms·

While I do believe that Facebook is indeed lying (about virtually any question you mask it, including user numbers), I think it is meaningful to ask: "Are adve

by blunte 7y ago

While I do believe that Facebook is indeed lying (about virtually any question you mask it, including user numbers), I think it is meaningful to ask: "Are advertisers getting enough performance out of Facebook ads to justify the expense?" The answer could be Yes. It's also possible that many of the companies aren't managing their expenses well, and that they don't know (but still have enough cash, whether from stock market "play money" or VC (SV play money)). There's no effective answer to the implied question, "How can we stop Facebook from being evil?" Even if the poisonous head of the snake is cut off, there is enough financial interest for remaining executives (and board) to continue along the same general path. My answer is this: smart startups identify the key value features of Facebook and implement them independently. This is a long play, but it could work. One example is how Facebook is used for communication and coordination of groups that share common interests. In this example, it's really just a little bit of communication features missing from meetup.com to replace this (and be better than what Facebook offers).

feocco 7y ago
I think there's a equivalent replacement for nearly every feature. There's not an equivalent service with as many users. I try to run my hobby groups and there's resistance to using new services when FB can handle it all. Even if it's not as good. It's like, always buying from Amazon cause it's easy, even if there's a cheaper/better product elsewhere. The effort factor. Even with digital minimalist individuals, they'd rather manage a single app than multiple. Regardless of the high cost of FB in attention terms. tl;dr- wat do w/ friends who don't want to use alternative
PaulHoule 7y ago
I'm not sure that advertising markets are efficient. Many people who advertise get a certain gratification in hearing their name (or business name) on the radio. More than one salesperson for newspaper advertising I have talked to tells me that their best line for retaining customers is that "if your newspaper ads disappear people will assume you went out of business." Political campaigns will spend hundreds of millions in election years, enough to drive up the cost of TV advertising for car dealerships, causing a drop in car sales. Often the audiences for ads are not consumers, but shareholders, politicians, employees, business partners, etc. Why else did IBM and GE run so many "lights on and nobody home" ads before shareholders finally made them stop? Why else do I see so many ads for cable providers that don't do business anywhere near my area? Does this play a role in why mall stores are dying (e.g. they believed their own illusions and didn't realize they were out of touch with consumers?) When Warren Buffet dies those GEICO ads will be the first thing to go, but they help keep the news media sweet and uncritical of a once superstar investment firm that now burns shareholder dollars while contributing to everything wrong with our economy.

by blunte 7y ago

feocco 7y ago

I think there's a equivalent replacement for nearly every feature. There's not an equivalent service with as many users. I try to run my hobby groups and there's resistance to using new services when FB can handle it all. Even if it's not as good. It's like, always buying from Amazon cause it's easy, even if there's a cheaper/better product elsewhere. The effort factor. Even with digital minimalist individuals, they'd rather manage a single app than multiple. Regardless of the high cost of FB in attention terms. tl;dr- wat do w/ friends who don't want to use alternative

PaulHoule 7y ago

I'm not sure that advertising markets are efficient. Many people who advertise get a certain gratification in hearing their name (or business name) on the radio. More than one salesperson for newspaper advertising I have talked to tells me that their best line for retaining customers is that "if your newspaper ads disappear people will assume you went out of business." Political campaigns will spend hundreds of millions in election years, enough to drive up the cost of TV advertising for car dealerships, causing a drop in car sales. Often the audiences for ads are not consumers, but shareholders, politicians, employees, business partners, etc. Why else did IBM and GE run so many "lights on and nobody home" ads before shareholders finally made them stop? Why else do I see so many ads for cable providers that don't do business anywhere near my area? Does this play a role in why mall stores are dying (e.g. they believed their own illusions and didn't realize they were out of touch with consumers?) When Warren Buffet dies those GEICO ads will be the first thing to go, but they help keep the news media sweet and uncritical of a once superstar investment firm that now burns shareholder dollars while contributing to everything wrong with our economy.