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ok...so the government approves acquisitions, and then later regrets those decisions. Great way to send shockwaves through the M&A space with governing incompe
by s3r3nity 6y ago
ok...so the government approves acquisitions, and then later regrets those decisions.
Great way to send shockwaves through the M&A space with governing incompetence: rather than pass reasonable legislation and/or empower an existing department, just have a political theater of a committee process which selectively picks those who haven't lobbied enough _not_ to get in front of that committee.
- ARandomerDude 6y agoYou raise a good point, though I'll note it's not an either/or proposition. The government botches numerous regulatory decisions. And Facebook is a monopoly that buys or copies (thus kills) their competitors.
- threeseed 6y ago> And Facebook is a monopoly that buys or copies (thus kills) their competitors And yet competitors e.g. Snapchat, TikTok, HouseParty, Telegram, Line continue to appear and flourish.
- adventured 6y agoAnd you forgot a big one - Pinterest, which is larger than Snapchat, thriving globally and worth $26 billion. Facebook has been entirely unable to slow their growth. I think it's clear at this point that Facebook will continue to lose their social dominance, so long as they're prevented from acquiring any major competitors. Their old-line social network will likely remain as a foundation that everyone joins, because so many people are on it. New networks will keep popping up for the same reason TikTok did, young people hate being where old people are, where their parents and teachers are. That cycle will perpetually repeat (in 15 years TikTok 'dancing' videos will be viewed as laughably cringy by young people, like 1980s big hair and fashion trends were 15 years later). All that's necessary is to prevent Facebook from buying the new networks as they pop up. Instagram might even manage to kill itself trying to be too many things as it clones competitors, turning itself into the F35 of social networks.
- s3r3nity 6y agoYou're probably getting downvoted because you're repeating the same line that folks have been saying about Facebook for like 15 years now that keeps getting disproven. It's just the Chicken Little "sky is falling" metaphor. >young people hate being where old people are, where their parents and teachers are. Yes, because let's make large business decisions and technology investments on what 10-12 year olds like.
- Qahlel 6y agoGovernment is not a single entity with a single mind. It is more like a coalition.
- missedthecue 6y agoOk, the justice department approves acquisitions and then regrets them.
- vmception 6y ago> House Antitrust Subcommittee mmmmm, no looks like the legislative branch is reviewing what the executive branch does at all, thats whats supposed to happen.
- dastx 6y agoEven if these were the same people who approved the original acquisitions, it's not like people can't rethink their position.
- ceilingcorner 6y agoContrary to popular belief, the government is not a group of ten old men sitting in a conference room in DC. Different departments have different priorities.
- pessimizer 6y agoI don't know that we should be concerned about uncertainty in the M&A space. Maybe they're too comfortable.