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Meta seems like a zombie company, no. They have one product, WhatsApp, thats isnt monetized or at least isn't monetized where I am. Their other product Facebook

Meta seems like a zombie company, no. They have one product, WhatsApp, thats isnt monetized or at least isn't monetized where I am. Their other product Facebook I dont use nor do I know anyone my age who does, and Instagram, which they are ad-polluting to the point of un-usability.

williamstein 2y ago
And yet Facebook has 3 billion monthly active users: https://www.demandsage.com/facebook-statistics/ https://www.demandsage.com/facebook-statistics/
- Hooray_Darakian 2y ago
  surely 3 billion accounts
- TulliusCicero 2y ago
  I'm now one of those people, the ones talking about how they dropped FB. Eventually I logged on and noticed that as I was scrolling, like 2/3rds of the content wasn't from my friends at all, not even re-shared stuff, it was all ads or shorts from randos or random group pages that somehow appeared on my feed. And of course a lot of the things from my friends were, in fact, re-shares. I felt like, if only like 20% or less of the content is original stuff from my friends, what's the point of even being here? This is terrible. So I gave up.
  - FireBeyond 2y ago
    When I look at Facebook now, I immediately click Feeds > Friends. It's not 100% perfect, but so so much better. And I see what I "need" with so much less wasted time. I entirely agree with you.
rossdavidh 2y ago
I think not "zombie", but rather, "mature". Which is almost as bad from the point of view of people who bought their stock thinking it was still a growth stock. Their user base can't get much bigger, they haven't ever really had a hit product after the first one, and they have a record of pouring billions into things (like AR) that never pay off. Now, they have done ok with buying other companies and keeping them running (Instagram), which to be fair lots of tech companies have failed at. So I don't think they're a zombie. But they may be something more like IBM, Cisco, or Oracle; a mature tech company that will go up and down, but whose big growth days are behind it.
- yodsanklai 2y ago
  > Which is almost as bad from the point of view of people who bought their stock thinking it was still a growth stock. The stock did +50% in 6 months.
  - sghiassy 2y ago
    46.05% in the last 6 months 69.10% in the last year 235.05% in the last 5 years Just the facts
- voidfunc 2y ago
  The stock went up 70% in the last year. In what fantasy world is Meta not a growth stock?
  - tzs 2y ago
    What's the definition of a growth stock? Is Walmart a growth stock, for example (it went up 77% in the last year)?
  - kranke155 2y ago
    A growth stock has no relation to being innovative. You could grow by just having a giant patent portfolio and litigating aggressively. I would argue that Meta is just reaping the benefit and profits from some very old IP, some of which they don’t know how to monetise.
- jknoepfler 2y ago
  A few hours in the "metaverse" destroyed any faith or confidence I might have had in their ability to develop usable products that might interest people. It was like using a product that had been designed and developed by the wrong species with absolutely no interest in the actual user experience. Billions were flushed down a product toilet chasing something that just... stinks. The experience is so overwhelmingly bizarre, frustrating, eery and depressing from a user pov that the only conclusion I could draw was that no one cared, that it was never actually tested, that no one actually was developing it for a user. So I don't know. I don't think the company is functionally capable of developing usable, engaging products for people. If it were, it wouldn't have made that shambling abomination public, or it would have taken a very different form. I think it's just stuck enshitifying itself. Frankly I don't really want to know more than I do about Meta, but it really does make me wonder whether there were actual voices ringing alarms from day one that the product was a dumpster-fire with horrific fundamentals, or if somehow the reporting on it came up all lilies from up-talking yes-yappers.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
threeseed 2y ago
a) We have an ageing population which is why you still see solid usage in Facebook. And their Groups/Marketplace features are strong drivers of growth. b) Meta launched Threads a year ago which is at about 300m MAUs and every month taking more and more users away from X.
ripped_britches 2y ago
This read just like someone complaining about every level in the food pyramid being junk food
WheatMillington 2y ago
Zombie companies don't keep growing at astronomical rates. I've been hearing about the imminent decline of Facebook for the best part of a decade.... still waiting.

williamstein 2y ago

And yet Facebook has 3 billion monthly active users: https://www.demandsage.com/facebook-statistics/ https://www.demandsage.com/facebook-statistics/

Hooray_Darakian 2y ago
surely 3 billion accounts
TulliusCicero 2y ago
I'm now one of those people, the ones talking about how they dropped FB. Eventually I logged on and noticed that as I was scrolling, like 2/3rds of the content wasn't from my friends at all, not even re-shared stuff, it was all ads or shorts from randos or random group pages that somehow appeared on my feed. And of course a lot of the things from my friends were, in fact, re-shares. I felt like, if only like 20% or less of the content is original stuff from my friends, what's the point of even being here? This is terrible. So I gave up.
- FireBeyond 2y ago
  When I look at Facebook now, I immediately click Feeds > Friends. It's not 100% perfect, but so so much better. And I see what I "need" with so much less wasted time. I entirely agree with you.

rossdavidh 2y ago

I think not "zombie", but rather, "mature". Which is almost as bad from the point of view of people who bought their stock thinking it was still a growth stock. Their user base can't get much bigger, they haven't ever really had a hit product after the first one, and they have a record of pouring billions into things (like AR) that never pay off. Now, they have done ok with buying other companies and keeping them running (Instagram), which to be fair lots of tech companies have failed at. So I don't think they're a zombie. But they may be something more like IBM, Cisco, or Oracle; a mature tech company that will go up and down, but whose big growth days are behind it.

yodsanklai 2y ago
> Which is almost as bad from the point of view of people who bought their stock thinking it was still a growth stock. The stock did +50% in 6 months.
- sghiassy 2y ago
  46.05% in the last 6 months 69.10% in the last year 235.05% in the last 5 years Just the facts
voidfunc 2y ago
The stock went up 70% in the last year. In what fantasy world is Meta not a growth stock?
- tzs 2y ago
  What's the definition of a growth stock? Is Walmart a growth stock, for example (it went up 77% in the last year)?
- kranke155 2y ago
  A growth stock has no relation to being innovative. You could grow by just having a giant patent portfolio and litigating aggressively. I would argue that Meta is just reaping the benefit and profits from some very old IP, some of which they don’t know how to monetise.
jknoepfler 2y ago
A few hours in the "metaverse" destroyed any faith or confidence I might have had in their ability to develop usable products that might interest people. It was like using a product that had been designed and developed by the wrong species with absolutely no interest in the actual user experience. Billions were flushed down a product toilet chasing something that just... stinks. The experience is so overwhelmingly bizarre, frustrating, eery and depressing from a user pov that the only conclusion I could draw was that no one cared, that it was never actually tested, that no one actually was developing it for a user. So I don't know. I don't think the company is functionally capable of developing usable, engaging products for people. If it were, it wouldn't have made that shambling abomination public, or it would have taken a very different form. I think it's just stuck enshitifying itself. Frankly I don't really want to know more than I do about Meta, but it really does make me wonder whether there were actual voices ringing alarms from day one that the product was a dumpster-fire with horrific fundamentals, or if somehow the reporting on it came up all lilies from up-talking yes-yappers.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

threeseed 2y ago

a) We have an ageing population which is why you still see solid usage in Facebook. And their Groups/Marketplace features are strong drivers of growth. b) Meta launched Threads a year ago which is at about 300m MAUs and every month taking more and more users away from X.

ripped_britches 2y ago

This read just like someone complaining about every level in the food pyramid being junk food

WheatMillington 2y ago

Zombie companies don't keep growing at astronomical rates. I've been hearing about the imminent decline of Facebook for the best part of a decade.... still waiting.