6 ms·

Facebook/Twitter too shall pass

34 points by CalmQuiet 17y ago

vorador 17y ago
Remember that twitter craze we experienced on hn one month ago ? It passed.
TweedHeads 17y ago
"you’ve been tricked into thinking that it is important." The power of marketing... ...and ten stories on TC's frontpage per day.
- trezor 17y ago
  While I agree with your point, I have to admit I know absolutely noone who reads techcrunch or are even aware of its existence. Only reason I even know about it is that people here keep on yammering about it constantly. I think you might have been tricked into thinking techcrunch is important. Maybe by the power of marketing? ;)
  - TweedHeads 17y ago
    PR submarines are not only related to the web. They run on tv, radio, newspapers, etc. Never underestimate the power of a PR agency, and money, lots of money. TC is just one of the most known propaganda hubs on the web.
daleharvey 17y ago
Article isnt saying much, and pretty much misses the point of social networking in general. there is a huge gap between your friends that you talk to every day, and long lost strangers you havent seen in 20+ years. not only that there is a difference between the amount and type of information thats exchanged online / face to face. facebook / twitter etc enable the type of information exchange that people have been trying to do since forever, in a better way. the idea that they will just quietly pass through when didnt some study put facebook as 90% of internet time somewhere recently? just a bit off base.
- greendestiny 17y ago
  So far the only thing that has knocked off social networking sites has been other social networking sites.
  - TweedHeads 17y ago
    Like geocities, then friendster, then livejournal, then orkut, then myspace, then facebook, then twitter, then (insert next fad here)
    - philwelch 17y ago
      Geocities wasn't social networking, it was free web hosting for people who didn't care about having their own domain name. LiveJournal is a quasi-social blogging platform, MySpace never sustainably spread past a teenage/preteen/music niche, and Facebook/Twitter are complementary services (Facebook is privacy oriented and Twitter is publicity oriented).
    - zimbabwe 17y ago
      But Twitter didn't knock off Facebook at all. My bet is that Facebook doesn't die off, and it's because Facebook captures what really matters for social networking: keeping track of friends. That's why it beat MySpace. Before Facebook, no social network was good. Each one was a bit less shitty than the one before it. Facebook's Feed was what pushed Facebook over the top, and it's powerful enough that Facebook won't lose what it's got. Facebook might waver in popularity, but at its core it's so good that people have no reason to switch, whereas with every other site there was no reason to stay once something better came along. Among my contacts, the only ones that use Twitter are the publicity hounds. The ones who want to keep in touch use Facebook and Facebook statuses, and because statuses are more interactive than Tweets (comments and likes), that's the sticky part of my communications world. I don't get the people calling Facebook a fad. Perhaps it's only coming from people that aren't part of the Facebook generation? Looking at it from within, as I'm doing, the difference between this and MySpace/Livejournal/Friendster is enormous.
- davidw 17y ago
shadytrees 17y ago
Sarcastically going through Twitter Trends is about as strong an argument as the xkcd character shouting "Stop having fun!" (http://xkcd.com/359/ http://xkcd.com/359/)
greengirl512 17y ago
His main argument seems to be "I don't like it, therefore eventually people will stop doing it." Just because he doesn't see a point to social networking doesn't mean that everybody feels that way.
- HSO 17y ago
  I for one am with him on this. Just yesterday deleted my second FB account, just don't see the point of it. This whole social networking thing feels like high-school all over (might have sth to do with connecting to old high-school people, but not just). Generally, I find those messages about who thinks what about what and does what right now, eh, embarrassing. It's like a 3-year old saying "look at me, Mum". Still, I don't think they will fade. There is a large segment of humanity that enjoys just this behavior. I also think there is a cultural element here, although this is simply a hunch, no data on that.
  - Tichy 17y ago
    Then Twitter might be for you, it is not as enforced as FB - you don't have to pretend to be friends just to follow somebody's timeline.
Tichy 17y ago
He thinks he is so smart, but has not yet realized that what the media portrays Twitter to be is not necessarily what the users perceive it to be. Edit: to clarify, it seems to me he based his assessment of Twitter on what the media writes about Twitter, not on real knowledge of Twitter.
utx00 17y ago
"I’m not surprised to see my cousin use such things as she’s a “people person” - she always wants to be a center of attention - that validates her existence. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t condemn her" well, as long as he doesn't condemn her.
dgallagher 17y ago
Do you think you'll still be using Facebook, and/or Twitter, 10 years from now?
- HSO 17y ago
  That's actually a really interesting question.
- TweedHeads 17y ago
  Yes
- TweedHeads 17y ago
  No
- CalmQuiet 17y ago
  If I had the genius to be able to conceive the next quantum leap in social web processes then I'd be able to answer this question. How many of us could envision the impact of a FB or Tw even 5 years ago?
  - TomOfTTB 17y ago
    I think I could. 5 years ago Friendster was popular and people were talking about blogs and rss. Facebook and Twitter are just iterations of those same concepts. Which is my answer to the original question. I think the same concepts will be around 10 years from now but on the question of "will it still be Facebook and Twitter" I think that all depends on how well they deal with the issues that still plague these services (most notably the signal-to-noise ratio on both services) One way or the other I think the idea of broadcasting information about yourself and having others be able to subscribe to that is here to stay..
- chime 17y ago
  Funny you ask, I just deactivated my Facebook account this morning for an unrelated reason (too much junk and drama, too little utility). I don't have much need for Twitter/Digg/Flickr/TechCrunch either. But I log into HN and reddit every single day. Five years ago I commented on Fark/Mefi forums diligently and ten years ago it was IRC and Yahoo chat. I think what it really boils down to is a good, intelligent crowd with decent moderation system. Social sites end up having little of that and a lot of useless banter.
pj 17y ago
I suppose I am one of only a few here who agrees with the author. He calls them fashions, I'd call them fads. They are fads, like the pet rocks and beanie babies and friendster and on and on. There will probably be die hards forever, but innovation won't stop and there will be newer and better ways to communicate in the future, so these new things will become old, just like newspapers and magazines and television... Facebook and Twitter actually damage real world interactions from what I have seen. Before facebook, when you saw someone, you had a conversation with them and you could make small talk filling in the gaps of what has happened since the last time you met. Now, people say, "Why are you asking if I'm dating someone, why don't you look at my facebook page?" It's like you have to go catch up with someone's facebook page before you meet them. I don't know maybe it is something about a particular kind of mind. I don't hate FB or Twitter, but I don't understand the real value. Maybe there is real value that can be gotten, I don't know... I don't really use them too much. I suppose the author's point though is that he doesn't like Facebook and Twitter because they are just more of the same stuff in real life. In real life, people are boring and on Facebook and Twitter, there's just more of that same boring kind of interaction. I wonder if he were to find interesting friends in real life and interact with them online would it make his impression of facebook and twitter different? A lot of people I admire/respect use twitter and facebook, so there has to be something there, they just aren't for me. But neither is WOW or Shoots and Ladders or TV or reading romance novels. Doesn't make those things bad, just "not for me." There's no reason to believe that same "not for me" can't apply to things lots of people find popular on the internet too.
anatoly 17y ago
I've been writing a blog for 8 years. I'll probably be writing one 10 years from now. Facebook? Not so much. Twitter? It'll probably pass in a few years.

34 points by CalmQuiet 17y ago

Remember that twitter craze we experienced on hn one month ago ? It passed.

"you’ve been tricked into thinking that it is important." The power of marketing... ...and ten stories on TC's frontpage per day.

trezor 17y ago
While I agree with your point, I have to admit I know absolutely noone who reads techcrunch or are even aware of its existence. Only reason I even know about it is that people here keep on yammering about it constantly. I think you might have been tricked into thinking techcrunch is important. Maybe by the power of marketing? ;)
- TweedHeads 17y ago
  PR submarines are not only related to the web. They run on tv, radio, newspapers, etc. Never underestimate the power of a PR agency, and money, lots of money. TC is just one of the most known propaganda hubs on the web.

daleharvey 17y ago

Article isnt saying much, and pretty much misses the point of social networking in general. there is a huge gap between your friends that you talk to every day, and long lost strangers you havent seen in 20+ years. not only that there is a difference between the amount and type of information thats exchanged online / face to face. facebook / twitter etc enable the type of information exchange that people have been trying to do since forever, in a better way. the idea that they will just quietly pass through when didnt some study put facebook as 90% of internet time somewhere recently? just a bit off base.

greendestiny 17y ago
So far the only thing that has knocked off social networking sites has been other social networking sites.
- TweedHeads 17y ago
  Like geocities, then friendster, then livejournal, then orkut, then myspace, then facebook, then twitter, then (insert next fad here)
  - philwelch 17y ago
    Geocities wasn't social networking, it was free web hosting for people who didn't care about having their own domain name. LiveJournal is a quasi-social blogging platform, MySpace never sustainably spread past a teenage/preteen/music niche, and Facebook/Twitter are complementary services (Facebook is privacy oriented and Twitter is publicity oriented).
  - zimbabwe 17y ago
    But Twitter didn't knock off Facebook at all. My bet is that Facebook doesn't die off, and it's because Facebook captures what really matters for social networking: keeping track of friends. That's why it beat MySpace. Before Facebook, no social network was good. Each one was a bit less shitty than the one before it. Facebook's Feed was what pushed Facebook over the top, and it's powerful enough that Facebook won't lose what it's got. Facebook might waver in popularity, but at its core it's so good that people have no reason to switch, whereas with every other site there was no reason to stay once something better came along. Among my contacts, the only ones that use Twitter are the publicity hounds. The ones who want to keep in touch use Facebook and Facebook statuses, and because statuses are more interactive than Tweets (comments and likes), that's the sticky part of my communications world. I don't get the people calling Facebook a fad. Perhaps it's only coming from people that aren't part of the Facebook generation? Looking at it from within, as I'm doing, the difference between this and MySpace/Livejournal/Friendster is enormous.
davidw 17y ago

shadytrees 17y ago

Sarcastically going through Twitter Trends is about as strong an argument as the xkcd character shouting "Stop having fun!" (http://xkcd.com/359/ http://xkcd.com/359/)

greengirl512 17y ago

His main argument seems to be "I don't like it, therefore eventually people will stop doing it." Just because he doesn't see a point to social networking doesn't mean that everybody feels that way.

HSO 17y ago
I for one am with him on this. Just yesterday deleted my second FB account, just don't see the point of it. This whole social networking thing feels like high-school all over (might have sth to do with connecting to old high-school people, but not just). Generally, I find those messages about who thinks what about what and does what right now, eh, embarrassing. It's like a 3-year old saying "look at me, Mum". Still, I don't think they will fade. There is a large segment of humanity that enjoys just this behavior. I also think there is a cultural element here, although this is simply a hunch, no data on that.
- Tichy 17y ago
  Then Twitter might be for you, it is not as enforced as FB - you don't have to pretend to be friends just to follow somebody's timeline.

Tichy 17y ago

He thinks he is so smart, but has not yet realized that what the media portrays Twitter to be is not necessarily what the users perceive it to be. Edit: to clarify, it seems to me he based his assessment of Twitter on what the media writes about Twitter, not on real knowledge of Twitter.

utx00 17y ago

"I’m not surprised to see my cousin use such things as she’s a “people person” - she always wants to be a center of attention - that validates her existence. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t condemn her" well, as long as he doesn't condemn her.

dgallagher 17y ago

Do you think you'll still be using Facebook, and/or Twitter, 10 years from now?

HSO 17y ago
That's actually a really interesting question.
TweedHeads 17y ago
Yes
TweedHeads 17y ago
No
CalmQuiet 17y ago
If I had the genius to be able to conceive the next quantum leap in social web processes then I'd be able to answer this question. How many of us could envision the impact of a FB or Tw even 5 years ago?
- TomOfTTB 17y ago
  I think I could. 5 years ago Friendster was popular and people were talking about blogs and rss. Facebook and Twitter are just iterations of those same concepts. Which is my answer to the original question. I think the same concepts will be around 10 years from now but on the question of "will it still be Facebook and Twitter" I think that all depends on how well they deal with the issues that still plague these services (most notably the signal-to-noise ratio on both services) One way or the other I think the idea of broadcasting information about yourself and having others be able to subscribe to that is here to stay..
chime 17y ago
Funny you ask, I just deactivated my Facebook account this morning for an unrelated reason (too much junk and drama, too little utility). I don't have much need for Twitter/Digg/Flickr/TechCrunch either. But I log into HN and reddit every single day. Five years ago I commented on Fark/Mefi forums diligently and ten years ago it was IRC and Yahoo chat. I think what it really boils down to is a good, intelligent crowd with decent moderation system. Social sites end up having little of that and a lot of useless banter.

pj 17y ago

I suppose I am one of only a few here who agrees with the author. He calls them fashions, I'd call them fads. They are fads, like the pet rocks and beanie babies and friendster and on and on. There will probably be die hards forever, but innovation won't stop and there will be newer and better ways to communicate in the future, so these new things will become old, just like newspapers and magazines and television... Facebook and Twitter actually damage real world interactions from what I have seen. Before facebook, when you saw someone, you had a conversation with them and you could make small talk filling in the gaps of what has happened since the last time you met. Now, people say, "Why are you asking if I'm dating someone, why don't you look at my facebook page?" It's like you have to go catch up with someone's facebook page before you meet them. I don't know maybe it is something about a particular kind of mind. I don't hate FB or Twitter, but I don't understand the real value. Maybe there is real value that can be gotten, I don't know... I don't really use them too much. I suppose the author's point though is that he doesn't like Facebook and Twitter because they are just more of the same stuff in real life. In real life, people are boring and on Facebook and Twitter, there's just more of that same boring kind of interaction. I wonder if he were to find interesting friends in real life and interact with them online would it make his impression of facebook and twitter different? A lot of people I admire/respect use twitter and facebook, so there has to be something there, they just aren't for me. But neither is WOW or Shoots and Ladders or TV or reading romance novels. Doesn't make those things bad, just "not for me." There's no reason to believe that same "not for me" can't apply to things lots of people find popular on the internet too.

anatoly 17y ago

I've been writing a blog for 8 years. I'll probably be writing one 10 years from now. Facebook? Not so much. Twitter? It'll probably pass in a few years.