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This article makes me wonder if we'll ever see another social network ever again. Our opinions on privacy and security have shifted dramatically (for the better

This article makes me wonder if we'll ever see another social network ever again. Our opinions on privacy and security have shifted dramatically (for the better, in my opinion), however imagine an author writing about Facebook a year in under a 2021 lens. Facebook (and others) grew because a lack of privacy and security was the goal. Images were public and tagged, conversations were viewable by anyone, the minifeed made it easy to see every change people made, etc. It was exclusive (college only) but also very public. The high amount of content and low amount of friction made it spread virally. Now it's much more locked down, but that's okay... it already hit a critical mass. The current consensus about privacy and security seem to be at odds with what's necessary to make a social network work. The ability to connect with anyone at any time with no friction is what makes social networks thrive, but also what enables harassment and abuse. I think it's likely we've already seen the last great social network.

halfmatthalfcat 6y ago
Social networks are not a homogenous group. You have broadcast social networks like Instagram and Twitter. You have community-based social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Discord. Clubhouse is just another twist on a community-esque one. Will we ever see a social network at Facebook's scale? Probably not. Will we see more social networks at the Twitter/Discord level, I bet we will.
SilverRed 6y ago
Discord is relatively new and rose up out of nothing very quickly. IMO, facebook/twitter style social networks just suck. They simply aren't a good idea. Instant messaging and VOIP is the greatest format for socializing. I'd much rather spend an hour in a voice call with a group of friends than scroll instagram.
- spideymans 6y ago
  > IMO, facebook/twitter style social networks just suck. Facebook/Twitter-style social networks were great until the point they started being "curated" (aka optimized for revenue). Once that happened, they rapidly lost their utility as a tool to actually connect people, and decayed into a medium to deliver advertisements (whether they be banner-style ads, influencers or sponsored posts).
spideymans 6y ago
>This article makes me wonder if we'll ever see another social network ever again. My somewhat controversial take is that the era of social media being used as a tool to connect people is over. "Social networking" (as it's still called) will predominantly be used to connect people to brands/influencers, but it won't be used to connect people that actually know each other. Younger people fled from Facebook, as it became increasing curated and infested with news, ads, etc. As Facebook declined, Instagram became the primary social network to keep up with friends. Instagram surpassed Facebook's popularity, until users fled Instagram for many of the same reasons they fled Facebook. But what's different this time is that there isn't some brand new social network emerging to take up Instagram's mantle as the primary social network to connect people. Instagram's relevance has faded, and it's been replaced by nothing. For the reasons you discussed, I don't think we'll ever see another social network reach the prominence of Instagram. Yes, TikTok exists, but it's more of a YouTube competitor, and makes no attempt to connect people, as Facebook and Instagram once did. Also there is a general cynicism around social media, which will make it challenging for new social networks to emerge. What comes after social networking? I'd say messaging will replace social networking as the primary means to connect people over the web. Privacy is less of a concern with messaging, as users directly control who their information is shared with. Messaging has fewer of the negative psychological effects we see with social networking (eg, brigading, obsessing over likes, etc...). And perhaps most importantly, messaging enables users to avoid the algorithmic "curation" (aka advert optimizations) we see on social networking. Discord and WhatsApp are the two most prominent examples of messaging services that could effectively replace social networks as a medium to connect people. Clubhouse itself is also a messaging app (just auditory, rather than textual). iMessage could be another huge player in the space if Apple makes the right moves.

halfmatthalfcat 6y ago

Social networks are not a homogenous group. You have broadcast social networks like Instagram and Twitter. You have community-based social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Discord. Clubhouse is just another twist on a community-esque one. Will we ever see a social network at Facebook's scale? Probably not. Will we see more social networks at the Twitter/Discord level, I bet we will.

SilverRed 6y ago

Discord is relatively new and rose up out of nothing very quickly. IMO, facebook/twitter style social networks just suck. They simply aren't a good idea. Instant messaging and VOIP is the greatest format for socializing. I'd much rather spend an hour in a voice call with a group of friends than scroll instagram.

spideymans 6y ago
> IMO, facebook/twitter style social networks just suck. Facebook/Twitter-style social networks were great until the point they started being "curated" (aka optimized for revenue). Once that happened, they rapidly lost their utility as a tool to actually connect people, and decayed into a medium to deliver advertisements (whether they be banner-style ads, influencers or sponsored posts).

spideymans 6y ago

>This article makes me wonder if we'll ever see another social network ever again. My somewhat controversial take is that the era of social media being used as a tool to connect people is over. "Social networking" (as it's still called) will predominantly be used to connect people to brands/influencers, but it won't be used to connect people that actually know each other. Younger people fled from Facebook, as it became increasing curated and infested with news, ads, etc. As Facebook declined, Instagram became the primary social network to keep up with friends. Instagram surpassed Facebook's popularity, until users fled Instagram for many of the same reasons they fled Facebook. But what's different this time is that there isn't some brand new social network emerging to take up Instagram's mantle as the primary social network to connect people. Instagram's relevance has faded, and it's been replaced by nothing. For the reasons you discussed, I don't think we'll ever see another social network reach the prominence of Instagram. Yes, TikTok exists, but it's more of a YouTube competitor, and makes no attempt to connect people, as Facebook and Instagram once did. Also there is a general cynicism around social media, which will make it challenging for new social networks to emerge. What comes after social networking? I'd say messaging will replace social networking as the primary means to connect people over the web. Privacy is less of a concern with messaging, as users directly control who their information is shared with. Messaging has fewer of the negative psychological effects we see with social networking (eg, brigading, obsessing over likes, etc...). And perhaps most importantly, messaging enables users to avoid the algorithmic "curation" (aka advert optimizations) we see on social networking. Discord and WhatsApp are the two most prominent examples of messaging services that could effectively replace social networks as a medium to connect people. Clubhouse itself is also a messaging app (just auditory, rather than textual). iMessage could be another huge player in the space if Apple makes the right moves.