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Meta has terrible "separation of concerns" within their apps. I just downloaded Messenger the other day and realized that they now also show you your feed withi

Meta has terrible "separation of concerns" within their apps. I just downloaded Messenger the other day and realized that they now also show you your feed within messenger. Why?? If i wanted to see my feed I would have downloaded the Facebook app. Same with WhatsApp and Instagram trying to cram down AI. My theory is you have these app "fiefdoms" that are run by different product managers and all of them are trying to steal users from the other product to show that their product is driving growth. So you end up with 10 apps that implement 90% of the same features.

reverendsteveii 1y ago
it's all about getting you into the endless feed of content. that's where their money lives, and that's where they want you to be.
Byamarro 1y ago
Probably there are many people like me - I use messenger and not the Facebook. But they REALLY want ppl like me to use the Facebook.
- toomuchtodo 1y ago
  Zuckerberg suggested wiping everyone's Facebook friends - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43694861 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43694861 - April 2025 (no comments) Mark Zuckerberg suggested wiping everyone’s Facebook friends and making users start again to boost the platform’s relevance - https://fortune.com/2025/04/15/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-instagram-whatsapp-ftc-antitrust-case/ https://fortune.com/2025/04/15/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-inst... | https://archive.today/01pLO https://archive.today/01pLO
  - frizlab 1y ago
    The lowkey makes sense. It’s more or less what they did with “close friends” on instagram, no?
  - atonse 1y ago
    He'd suggest doing that more than just the blindingly obvious thing of just allowing us to turn off the algorithm and only get content from friends? What a tool.
    - phyrex 1y ago
      That's already a thing: https://about.fb.com/news/2025/03/bringing-magic-of-friends-back-to-facebook/ https://about.fb.com/news/2025/03/bringing-magic-of-friends-...
      - atonse 1y ago
        wow! let’s see if people return as a result!
      - baggy_trough 1y ago
        Which sounds great except I can't find it or make it work.
        phyrex 1y ago
        Friends tab on mobile? Last I looked it didn't work on web for me
skizm 1y ago
Pretty sure Zuck makes these decisions and doesn’t give individual apps within Meta much freedom. I recall Instagram (after being acquired) wanting to develop their app a certain way and Zuck kept giving them a hard “no” on a lot of features he thought would steal users from Facebook. Same deal with WhatsApp. I think the Founders of WhatsApp left Meta due to this dynamic (among other things).
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
  Surely having billions in the bank was part of why WhatsApp left.
- vl 1y ago
  This is rational strategy for WhatsApp founders: why would they stay after being paid out? There is no way they can earn more on top of what was already paid.
  - derektank 1y ago
    The WhatsApp founders received the majority of their compensation from the deal in the form of equity in Facebook. As the leaders of an important product unit, I think they could have reasonably expected that staying and continuing to improve the product would have resulted in their Facebook equity increasing in value, some of which they were probably barred from immediately liquidating.
    - consumer451 1y ago
      It got a bit more interesting than that. > Now he’s talking publicly for the first time. Under pressure from Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg to monetize WhatsApp, he pushed back as Facebook questioned the encryption he'd helped build and laid the groundwork to show targeted ads and facilitate commercial messaging. Acton also walked away from Facebook a year before his final tranche of stock grants vested. “It was like, okay, well, you want to do these things I don’t want to do,” Acton says. “It’s better if I get out of your way. And I did.” It was perhaps the most expensive moral stand in history. Acton took a screenshot of the stock price on his way out the door—the decision cost him $850 million. > It’s also a story any idealistic entrepreneur can identify with: What happens when you build something incredible and then sell it to someone with far different plans for your baby? “At the end of the day, I sold my company,” Acton says. “I sold my users’ privacy to a larger benefit. I made a choice and a compromise. And I live with that every day.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive-whatsapp-cofounder-brian-acton-gives-the-inside-story-on-deletefacebook-and-why-he-left-850-million-behind/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive...
xnx 1y ago
It's a fad. Before you know it, "everything" apps will be popular.
- pixl97 1y ago
  "In the West"?, If I recall correctly everything apps are pretty popular in Eastern countries.
evan_ 1y ago
Same with Instagram. If you tap in the wrong place you're looking at Threads all of the sudden.
- lurk2 1y ago
  Threads supposedly has 250 million monthly active users now. I’ve always suspected there was some fraud going on there, because I don’t know anyone who uses it.
kristofferR 1y ago
This is pure speculation, but perhaps it is a way to prevent being forced to do a corporate breakup? I guess it's harder to split up if it seems less like separate products. Zuckerberg tried sucking up to Trump, but the FTC case against Meta is still in full force. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/4/15/mark-zuckerberg-back-in-us-court-amid-push-to-break-up-meta https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/4/15/mark-zuckerberg-...

reverendsteveii 1y ago

it's all about getting you into the endless feed of content. that's where their money lives, and that's where they want you to be.

Byamarro 1y ago

Probably there are many people like me - I use messenger and not the Facebook. But they REALLY want ppl like me to use the Facebook.

toomuchtodo 1y ago
Zuckerberg suggested wiping everyone's Facebook friends - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43694861 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43694861 - April 2025 (no comments) Mark Zuckerberg suggested wiping everyone’s Facebook friends and making users start again to boost the platform’s relevance - https://fortune.com/2025/04/15/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-instagram-whatsapp-ftc-antitrust-case/ https://fortune.com/2025/04/15/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-inst... | https://archive.today/01pLO https://archive.today/01pLO
- frizlab 1y ago
  The lowkey makes sense. It’s more or less what they did with “close friends” on instagram, no?
- atonse 1y ago
  He'd suggest doing that more than just the blindingly obvious thing of just allowing us to turn off the algorithm and only get content from friends? What a tool.
  - phyrex 1y ago
    That's already a thing: https://about.fb.com/news/2025/03/bringing-magic-of-friends-back-to-facebook/ https://about.fb.com/news/2025/03/bringing-magic-of-friends-...
    - atonse 1y ago
      wow! let’s see if people return as a result!
    - baggy_trough 1y ago
      Which sounds great except I can't find it or make it work.
      - phyrex 1y ago
        Friends tab on mobile? Last I looked it didn't work on web for me

skizm 1y ago

Pretty sure Zuck makes these decisions and doesn’t give individual apps within Meta much freedom. I recall Instagram (after being acquired) wanting to develop their app a certain way and Zuck kept giving them a hard “no” on a lot of features he thought would steal users from Facebook. Same deal with WhatsApp. I think the Founders of WhatsApp left Meta due to this dynamic (among other things).

0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
Surely having billions in the bank was part of why WhatsApp left.
vl 1y ago
This is rational strategy for WhatsApp founders: why would they stay after being paid out? There is no way they can earn more on top of what was already paid.
- derektank 1y ago
  The WhatsApp founders received the majority of their compensation from the deal in the form of equity in Facebook. As the leaders of an important product unit, I think they could have reasonably expected that staying and continuing to improve the product would have resulted in their Facebook equity increasing in value, some of which they were probably barred from immediately liquidating.
  - consumer451 1y ago
    It got a bit more interesting than that. > Now he’s talking publicly for the first time. Under pressure from Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg to monetize WhatsApp, he pushed back as Facebook questioned the encryption he'd helped build and laid the groundwork to show targeted ads and facilitate commercial messaging. Acton also walked away from Facebook a year before his final tranche of stock grants vested. “It was like, okay, well, you want to do these things I don’t want to do,” Acton says. “It’s better if I get out of your way. And I did.” It was perhaps the most expensive moral stand in history. Acton took a screenshot of the stock price on his way out the door—the decision cost him $850 million. > It’s also a story any idealistic entrepreneur can identify with: What happens when you build something incredible and then sell it to someone with far different plans for your baby? “At the end of the day, I sold my company,” Acton says. “I sold my users’ privacy to a larger benefit. I made a choice and a compromise. And I live with that every day.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive-whatsapp-cofounder-brian-acton-gives-the-inside-story-on-deletefacebook-and-why-he-left-850-million-behind/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive...

xnx 1y ago

It's a fad. Before you know it, "everything" apps will be popular.

pixl97 1y ago
"In the West"?, If I recall correctly everything apps are pretty popular in Eastern countries.

evan_ 1y ago

Same with Instagram. If you tap in the wrong place you're looking at Threads all of the sudden.

lurk2 1y ago
Threads supposedly has 250 million monthly active users now. I’ve always suspected there was some fraud going on there, because I don’t know anyone who uses it.

kristofferR 1y ago

This is pure speculation, but perhaps it is a way to prevent being forced to do a corporate breakup? I guess it's harder to split up if it seems less like separate products. Zuckerberg tried sucking up to Trump, but the FTC case against Meta is still in full force. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/4/15/mark-zuckerberg-back-in-us-court-amid-push-to-break-up-meta https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/4/15/mark-zuckerberg-...