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Having just finished watching The Social Dilemma about fifteen minutes ago -- then hopping onto HN to satisfy the itch before bedtime (the irony is not lost) to
by Jedd 6y ago
Having just finished watching The Social Dilemma about fifteen minutes ago -- then hopping onto HN to satisfy the itch before bedtime (the irony is not lost) to read some commentary about Apple, Instagram, and Facebook.
"There are millions of [small businesses] out there that rely on us to target customers and to reach those customers." (quote from Instagram CEO)
I'm not an Instagram user / customer / product -- but it seems disingenuous for the CEO of Instagram to claim the company's primary concern is these myriad tiny companies, other than in the context of them indirectly buoying up Instagram's business.
- parsimoniousplb 6y agoEdit: accidentially replied to wrong post
- srtjstjsj 6y agoThere's nothing wrong with getting paid to help people. That's the whole moral justification for capitalism.
- XCSme 6y agoBut there is something wrong in harming billions of people just to help a few businesses.
- treis 6y agoI doubt that anyone at Facebook cares about small businesses beyond making money off them, but they do have a point here. Instagram & Facebook are at the center of a lot of small businesses/side hustles. Those depend pretty heavily on advertising to generate sales or to monetize their posts. I'm dubious that all this tracking really is that effective for ads. But linking a purchase to an ad is undeniably important. If you can't do that then the current system breaks down. Hard to know if what replaces it will be better or worse.