3 ms·
Im referring to the early years specifically, when it had no ads and no obvious business model. They jump started their Network effect by being useful and unobt
by smolder 7y ago
Im referring to the early years specifically, when it had no ads and no obvious business model. They jump started their Network effect by being useful and unobtrusive and then the monetization set in. Still, it's only recently that those concerns you mentioned really became mainstream. The well-informed public is a small sliver of the public overall, because it takes effort to stay informed, and there is a lot of deceptive junk and sponsored opinions to sift through.
- wutbrodo 7y agoMost people still don't really care that much about privacy, and polls continue to bear this out. The bulk of complaints are based on its direct effects on user's mental well-being, as well as perceived damage to the health of civil society. The upshot is that people don't really see a problem with obtrusive monetization directly (FB ads aren't particularly egregious from a UI perspective), but rather attempts to increase engagement, which of course substantially predate their monetization efforts. The News Feed and related controversy are an easy, early example, as is the promotion of Farmville-style "games" (ca 2009/10), which also substantially predates Facebook's mainstreaming and the bulk of their user growth.