5 ms·

Ask HN: what would make you switch from Facebook?

8 points by joering2 15y ago

those who believe Facebook is just a stage in still evolving Internet and one day will be in MySpace shoes, whats your take on the future Facebook?

mike-cardwell 15y ago
I want to use a distributed social network which no single corporation or government can control, monitor or censor. Everything should be private by default, with PKI and encryption playing a central part. If somebody can create that, and make it easy for my mum to use, then I (and many other people I suspect) would spend considerable effort to get people to move over to using it.
- balac 15y ago
  https://joindiaspora.com/ https://joindiaspora.com/
  - mike-cardwell 15y ago
    Diaspora has the distributed part, but not the PKI part. I'd be happier using Diaspora than Facebook, but not so much so that I'd go out of my way to convince my non-techy friends to move.
wtvanhest 15y ago
It would have to be some sort of network that starts out as an extreme niche and slowly builds network effects.
- joering2 15y ago
  good call. is there any other "niche" of a human life that hasnt been tapped by network effect?
  - wtvanhest 15y ago
    Yes, there are plenty of niches without established social networks. The issue becomes whether the niche provides a compelling value proposition for people to deal with the beginning. I would argue that HN or maybe Reddit have the right type of environment where if they decided to add a social tier to comments stuff like I could add someone as a friend that it would take off. Also, I think dating sites have potential to win here too. Site A could easily add a friend button and end up with network effects to keep people from going to site B. That could grow in to a real network. The way I think about it is the same way I think about the universe. Without a doubt, with 7 Billion people on earth, someone will figure out a way to create network effects. From an investment standpoint I would be fearful to back anyone unless they had traction.
mcherm 15y ago
Wrong question. The right question is "What would allow you to switch from Facebook?" For me, the answer is "if all my friends and relatives would move someplace else". I suspect Facebook will work hard to prevent that, blocking data liberation tools and things intended to synchronize your data across multiple social sites.
- joering2 15y ago
  thanks. that actually surprised me when they released the tool to export your entire profile. Thought it was kind of a mistake to give that feature to the users.
robdoherty2 15y ago
Really-- a stiff breeze would blow me out of my roost on facebook. But like mcherm, I am bound by my connections to my relatives/friends with whom I would likely otherwise lose touch.
jgrahamc 15y ago
I 'switched' from Facebook, LinkedIn and G+ the other day: http://blog.jgc.org/2012/01/social-site-shutdown.html http://blog.jgc.org/2012/01/social-site-shutdown.html I simply closed all three accounts and decided to live life without them.
- RexRollman 15y ago
  That's what I've done. The only service I would even consider using at this point is Twitter, which I like because it doesn't require the use of real names.
- polyfractal 15y ago
  Agreed. I hardly use Facebook and I find it's UI a nightmare. All my close friends stay in touch via Gchat, more distant friends either don't need to contact me or have my email (or know a closer friend). My girlfriend closed her facebook though, and it's amazing how much aggression people display when she tells them that. "What?! You don't have a facebook account? What's wrong with you?" Then they go on and start bitching about how much time they waste on Facebook...
- pasbesoin 15y ago
  John: s/community/communicating/ , I think.
Reebz 15y ago
I don't think I would move due to the multitude of family/friends, but Facebook will die off when there is an open social networking framework. I see it like shoes. You wear Nike, your friend wears Adidas, but you can still walk together. You can connect across networks, tag photos across networks, etc. You will have your personal page but it's really just a place to rest your head - your 'Newsfeed' aggregates all your friends activity from whatever network they're on. It won't matter what shoes you wear, just get a pair and go walking.
- joering2 15y ago
  opengraph does that, right?
tstegart 15y ago
What would make me switch? If I could still access all the Facebook info without using Facebook. That would make me switch.
PonyGumbo 15y ago
I'm only on Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family who I don't get to see on a regular basis. I'm not in any way committed to the platform.
beatpanda 15y ago
Events are the only reason I still have an account. If I had a better way to be notified of parties and small local concerts, I would deactivate my account in 2 seconds. The news feed doesn't do anything for me, I don't use any apps, and random people from my past already can't look me up. I already use other apps to share the kinds of events and connections Facebook wants me to put on their platform, and I falsified my profile so ads show up in a language I can't read. But I cant get al the way rid of my account, because not having one would be too inconvenient. I suspect its going to stay this way for a long time, for the same reason I have a Yahoo account I never use.
brudgers 15y ago
Facebook won't be in the same shoes as MySpace because it was not sold at a "quasi-dipshit" price after less than three years to a massive media conglomerate [see also AOL]. Instead, Facebook has focused on growth and Zuckerberg has maintained a huge ownership stake. Indeed, MySpace was vulnerable to such a sale because it was a division of a larger company and its founders did not have the sort of control over its destiny that Facebook's founders have.
AznHisoka 15y ago
Facebook has something MySpace never had: an ecosystem. With Facebook Connect, a place to receive invites, a central place for contacts, albums, etc, a developer program, brand/fan pages, etc. it's hard to see them going away for a long long time. That said, I am not in Facebook. I would consider joining a social network if it had meaningful/interesting conversations I would want to participate in. Sort of like Hacker News, but more geared towards any general meaningful topic, not just tech. Quora is as close as it gets, but even that is too much Q&A.. I just want general chat, like Reddit except a bit more serious.

8 points by joering2 15y ago

those who believe Facebook is just a stage in still evolving Internet and one day will be in MySpace shoes, whats your take on the future Facebook?

mike-cardwell 15y ago

I want to use a distributed social network which no single corporation or government can control, monitor or censor. Everything should be private by default, with PKI and encryption playing a central part. If somebody can create that, and make it easy for my mum to use, then I (and many other people I suspect) would spend considerable effort to get people to move over to using it.

balac 15y ago
https://joindiaspora.com/ https://joindiaspora.com/
- mike-cardwell 15y ago
  Diaspora has the distributed part, but not the PKI part. I'd be happier using Diaspora than Facebook, but not so much so that I'd go out of my way to convince my non-techy friends to move.

wtvanhest 15y ago

It would have to be some sort of network that starts out as an extreme niche and slowly builds network effects.

joering2 15y ago
good call. is there any other "niche" of a human life that hasnt been tapped by network effect?
- wtvanhest 15y ago
  Yes, there are plenty of niches without established social networks. The issue becomes whether the niche provides a compelling value proposition for people to deal with the beginning. I would argue that HN or maybe Reddit have the right type of environment where if they decided to add a social tier to comments stuff like I could add someone as a friend that it would take off. Also, I think dating sites have potential to win here too. Site A could easily add a friend button and end up with network effects to keep people from going to site B. That could grow in to a real network. The way I think about it is the same way I think about the universe. Without a doubt, with 7 Billion people on earth, someone will figure out a way to create network effects. From an investment standpoint I would be fearful to back anyone unless they had traction.

mcherm 15y ago

Wrong question. The right question is "What would allow you to switch from Facebook?" For me, the answer is "if all my friends and relatives would move someplace else". I suspect Facebook will work hard to prevent that, blocking data liberation tools and things intended to synchronize your data across multiple social sites.

joering2 15y ago
thanks. that actually surprised me when they released the tool to export your entire profile. Thought it was kind of a mistake to give that feature to the users.

robdoherty2 15y ago

Really-- a stiff breeze would blow me out of my roost on facebook. But like mcherm, I am bound by my connections to my relatives/friends with whom I would likely otherwise lose touch.

jgrahamc 15y ago

I 'switched' from Facebook, LinkedIn and G+ the other day: http://blog.jgc.org/2012/01/social-site-shutdown.html http://blog.jgc.org/2012/01/social-site-shutdown.html I simply closed all three accounts and decided to live life without them.

RexRollman 15y ago
That's what I've done. The only service I would even consider using at this point is Twitter, which I like because it doesn't require the use of real names.
polyfractal 15y ago
Agreed. I hardly use Facebook and I find it's UI a nightmare. All my close friends stay in touch via Gchat, more distant friends either don't need to contact me or have my email (or know a closer friend). My girlfriend closed her facebook though, and it's amazing how much aggression people display when she tells them that. "What?! You don't have a facebook account? What's wrong with you?" Then they go on and start bitching about how much time they waste on Facebook...
pasbesoin 15y ago
John: s/community/communicating/ , I think.

Reebz 15y ago

I don't think I would move due to the multitude of family/friends, but Facebook will die off when there is an open social networking framework. I see it like shoes. You wear Nike, your friend wears Adidas, but you can still walk together. You can connect across networks, tag photos across networks, etc. You will have your personal page but it's really just a place to rest your head - your 'Newsfeed' aggregates all your friends activity from whatever network they're on. It won't matter what shoes you wear, just get a pair and go walking.

joering2 15y ago
opengraph does that, right?

tstegart 15y ago

What would make me switch? If I could still access all the Facebook info without using Facebook. That would make me switch.

PonyGumbo 15y ago

I'm only on Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family who I don't get to see on a regular basis. I'm not in any way committed to the platform.

beatpanda 15y ago

Events are the only reason I still have an account. If I had a better way to be notified of parties and small local concerts, I would deactivate my account in 2 seconds. The news feed doesn't do anything for me, I don't use any apps, and random people from my past already can't look me up. I already use other apps to share the kinds of events and connections Facebook wants me to put on their platform, and I falsified my profile so ads show up in a language I can't read. But I cant get al the way rid of my account, because not having one would be too inconvenient. I suspect its going to stay this way for a long time, for the same reason I have a Yahoo account I never use.

brudgers 15y ago

Facebook won't be in the same shoes as MySpace because it was not sold at a "quasi-dipshit" price after less than three years to a massive media conglomerate [see also AOL]. Instead, Facebook has focused on growth and Zuckerberg has maintained a huge ownership stake. Indeed, MySpace was vulnerable to such a sale because it was a division of a larger company and its founders did not have the sort of control over its destiny that Facebook's founders have.

AznHisoka 15y ago

Facebook has something MySpace never had: an ecosystem. With Facebook Connect, a place to receive invites, a central place for contacts, albums, etc, a developer program, brand/fan pages, etc. it's hard to see them going away for a long long time. That said, I am not in Facebook. I would consider joining a social network if it had meaningful/interesting conversations I would want to participate in. Sort of like Hacker News, but more geared towards any general meaningful topic, not just tech. Quora is as close as it gets, but even that is too much Q&A.. I just want general chat, like Reddit except a bit more serious.