4 ms·

This seems like a very strange thing for them to say. I can imagine if Microsoft, Google or Amazon threatened to stop offering services EU might at least care

by yreg 5y ago

This seems like a very strange thing for them to say. I can imagine if Microsoft, Google or Amazon threatened to stop offering services EU might at least care since their services would be missed, at least short term. (Although the threat would be obviously just as empty as Meta's.) I don't see why should our regulators care at all to keep Meta here though.

mschuster91 5y ago
> I don't see why should our regulators care at all to keep Meta here though. Because there are an awful lot of small businesses that sell almost exclusively through Facebook, and the major industries of Europe (i.e. the car manufacturers) which conveniently are major donors to the political parties depend on social media for their marketing as classic ATL advertising spend is going back. Not to mention Instagram "influencers" - a couple of them have millions of followers. What do you think will happen when even one tells their followers to blast the offices of politicians with calls and letters? Not that I like Meta, their products and their attitude towards privacy very much, but using the "Scientology method" may get them their will in the end.
- logical_ferry 5y ago
  >What do you think will happen when even one tells their followers to blast the offices of politicians with calls and letters? Probably nothing, they will go to spam folder. At least that's how democracy works in my country.
  - bb88 5y ago
    I was hoping the adults in the room would tell the influencers to do something productive with their lives rather than stoke the social fears of the teenagers that follow them.
- Tabular-Iceberg 5y ago
  > Not to mention Instagram "influencers" - a couple of them have millions of followers. What do you think will happen when even one tells their followers to blast the offices of politicians with calls and letters? Nothing? Maybe a change.org petition at most? Facebook may have shot themselves in the foot by turning their services into pacifiers for adults.
- gspr 5y ago
  > Because there are an awful lot of small businesses that sell almost exclusively through Facebook I have never heard of such a thing! Do you have examples?
  - mschuster91 5y ago
    Sure [1]. I remember that one from that big Facebook outage, when people suddenly discovered that relying on a single, third-party controlled sales channel is a bad idea. [1]: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/389673 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/389673
    - gspr 5y ago
      TIL! That's truly weird.
- dogma1138 5y ago
  I don’t know why is this being downvoted my partner is an architect and pretty much her entire industry as far as residential interior design and architecture goes runs on Instagram… This is the primary channel for her work as an independent architect and for all the companies she works with. Instagram is a big part of small businesses today even if you might not like the lifestyle/influencer business model you can’t ignore reality. Restaurants, hairdressers and beauty saloons, joiners and contractors and many other sectors heavily rely on it to promote their business and get exposure to potential clients.

by yreg 5y ago

mschuster91 5y ago

> I don't see why should our regulators care at all to keep Meta here though. Because there are an awful lot of small businesses that sell almost exclusively through Facebook, and the major industries of Europe (i.e. the car manufacturers) which conveniently are major donors to the political parties depend on social media for their marketing as classic ATL advertising spend is going back. Not to mention Instagram "influencers" - a couple of them have millions of followers. What do you think will happen when even one tells their followers to blast the offices of politicians with calls and letters? Not that I like Meta, their products and their attitude towards privacy very much, but using the "Scientology method" may get them their will in the end.

logical_ferry 5y ago
>What do you think will happen when even one tells their followers to blast the offices of politicians with calls and letters? Probably nothing, they will go to spam folder. At least that's how democracy works in my country.
- bb88 5y ago
  I was hoping the adults in the room would tell the influencers to do something productive with their lives rather than stoke the social fears of the teenagers that follow them.
Tabular-Iceberg 5y ago
> Not to mention Instagram "influencers" - a couple of them have millions of followers. What do you think will happen when even one tells their followers to blast the offices of politicians with calls and letters? Nothing? Maybe a change.org petition at most? Facebook may have shot themselves in the foot by turning their services into pacifiers for adults.
gspr 5y ago
> Because there are an awful lot of small businesses that sell almost exclusively through Facebook I have never heard of such a thing! Do you have examples?
- mschuster91 5y ago
  Sure [1]. I remember that one from that big Facebook outage, when people suddenly discovered that relying on a single, third-party controlled sales channel is a bad idea. [1]: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/389673 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/389673
  - gspr 5y ago
    TIL! That's truly weird.
dogma1138 5y ago
I don’t know why is this being downvoted my partner is an architect and pretty much her entire industry as far as residential interior design and architecture goes runs on Instagram… This is the primary channel for her work as an independent architect and for all the companies she works with. Instagram is a big part of small businesses today even if you might not like the lifestyle/influencer business model you can’t ignore reality. Restaurants, hairdressers and beauty saloons, joiners and contractors and many other sectors heavily rely on it to promote their business and get exposure to potential clients.