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What it tells us is simple and people keep trying to make more of it than it is. Users are leaving Facebook in droves. Facebook is buying back users who's atte
by geuis 13y ago
What it tells us is simple and people keep trying to make more of it than it is.
Users are leaving Facebook in droves. Facebook is buying back users who's attention they have lost.
People are migrating to other services that offer a better experience for the task at hand. This is what Facebook/Google/Microsoft keep forgetting.
FB bought Instagram because their own photo feature wasn't as good and that's where they sensed people would be moving to. They've mostly left IG alone and it's been good.
WhatsApp is a better IM experience. Facebook buys them to get back users that have left.
The thing to remember is that people leaving something like Facebook isn't "I'm deleting my account", it's inattention attrition. Facebook users don't die (mostly), they just stop caring.
So FB buying WA doesn't mean much except FB is trying to alter its course. To their credit, they have the foresight to see they're failing and attempt a course correction.
- threeseed 13y agoSorry but no. Facebook is not bleeding users in fact they are still gaining them with engagement still incredibly high. What is happening is that we are in a period of transition from feature phones and PCs to smart mobile devices. And it is a new landscape with new winners and losers. Facebook is no longer the only player like it was on the web and so it needs to acquire companies with existing mindshare. Ultimately Facebook is trying to do one thing. Make sure that every minute you spend on a mobile device is within one of their apps.
- junto 13y agoI think people are leaving, but I'm sure FB are acquiring users faster than they are losing them. Also the standard user doesn't grok the feed personalisation features so they switch off as a result. I left FB post Snoden. My wife has a news feed that she finds uninteresting but is not bothered enough to tune that feed to her benefit. She just visits Facebook less often.