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I suppose. I see more than a few dozen ways that Facebook could launch game changing monetization methods in the past several years and have let them all slip

by rizzn 17y ago

I suppose. I see more than a few dozen ways that Facebook could launch game changing monetization methods in the past several years and have let them all slip through their fingers. And then, of course, you see the posts at Valleywag and ATD showing them doing little more than playing ping-pong and video games all day, and I'm left wondering if this talent grab ploy over there isn't just turning good coders into good slackers. I'm not saying FB's a titanic, but they do an awful lot of deck-chair re-arranging there, it seems like.

tsally 17y ago
I think it's pretty unlikely that Facebook missed dozens of game changing monetization methods. They've got very smart people working there, and even if all Facebook execs had zero business sense, their VCs have plenty of access to people with that kind of experience. Also, Valleywag is not a very reliable news source. EDIT: Toned down my post, sorry I was being obnoxious.
- rizzn 17y ago
  i've been covering Facebook as a major wheelhouse for years, and I've noticed at least a dozen I could name if pressed. That means there's probably a lot more I haven't thought of. Valleywag isn't exactly the best hard news source, but when it comes to corporate culture type stuff, which is what i'm referring to, they're generally not bad, particularly in their hey-day when Boutin, Owen and the rest of the gang were still there.
  - tsally 17y ago
    So then what's your theory on why Facebook hasn't acted on these ideas? EDIT: Read your other comment (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=784433 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=784433). Well explained points!
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
unalone 17y ago
Facebook's chock full of some incredibly brilliant people, and it hasn't been resting. It's evolving faster as a site than any other web site that large. It's cutting-edge both in terms of its design and functionality. It's not perfect, but it's very, very, very good. I trust Facebook's developers to know what's best for their company, at the moment. I doubt they've missed thirty-plus possibilities for monetization without thinking very carefully about all of them. Meanwhile, Facebook's making money without letting more than a handful of users slip out of its walled garden, so I think they're doing a good job so far. And then, of course, you see the posts at Valleywag and ATD showing them doing little more than playing ping-pong and video games all day, and I'm left wondering if this talent grab ploy over there isn't just turning good coders into good slackers. Do you expect people to sit in front of a screen for sixteen hours a day, being constantly productive? I've got a limited work experience, but one of the things I noticed instantly going between jobs is that the better people are working at a job, and the more they're trusted, the less they're expected to spend all their time working. It's assumed that they know themselves how much time they'll need to get their work done. (As an anecdote, I'll provide the story of the people at the close-knit writing program I attended a few years ago. We were given eight hours a day to write, probably spent two hours writing at most and six hours on Youtube.)
- rizzn 17y ago
  "Do you expect people to sit in front of a screen for sixteen hours a day, being constantly productive?" If I can do it, so can they. Perhaps not for 16 hours a day. I tend to cut myself off at 12 or 14 (call me a slacker). A smaller dedicated staff with an ethos of accountability beats out a large supposedly genius and top notch staff that has a reputation for playing games during the majority of their shift. "It's evolving faster as a site than any other web site that large." Constant change does not equal success, either in UX or fiscal reward. They've yet to be decidedly in the black, they've yet to find a solid business model, and they've yet to find dedicated evangelists in the tech blogosphere at large. They're simply growing because they're growing, and that momentum won't last forever (again, ask FriendFeed, Myspace, Friendster, Six Degrees of Seperation, Orkut, Yahoo 360, and the rest of the zombies beckoning from the graveyard).

by rizzn 17y ago

tsally 17y ago

I think it's pretty unlikely that Facebook missed dozens of game changing monetization methods. They've got very smart people working there, and even if all Facebook execs had zero business sense, their VCs have plenty of access to people with that kind of experience. Also, Valleywag is not a very reliable news source. EDIT: Toned down my post, sorry I was being obnoxious.

rizzn 17y ago
i've been covering Facebook as a major wheelhouse for years, and I've noticed at least a dozen I could name if pressed. That means there's probably a lot more I haven't thought of. Valleywag isn't exactly the best hard news source, but when it comes to corporate culture type stuff, which is what i'm referring to, they're generally not bad, particularly in their hey-day when Boutin, Owen and the rest of the gang were still there.
- tsally 17y ago
  So then what's your theory on why Facebook hasn't acted on these ideas? EDIT: Read your other comment (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=784433 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=784433). Well explained points!
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]

unalone 17y ago

Facebook's chock full of some incredibly brilliant people, and it hasn't been resting. It's evolving faster as a site than any other web site that large. It's cutting-edge both in terms of its design and functionality. It's not perfect, but it's very, very, very good. I trust Facebook's developers to know what's best for their company, at the moment. I doubt they've missed thirty-plus possibilities for monetization without thinking very carefully about all of them. Meanwhile, Facebook's making money without letting more than a handful of users slip out of its walled garden, so I think they're doing a good job so far. And then, of course, you see the posts at Valleywag and ATD showing them doing little more than playing ping-pong and video games all day, and I'm left wondering if this talent grab ploy over there isn't just turning good coders into good slackers. Do you expect people to sit in front of a screen for sixteen hours a day, being constantly productive? I've got a limited work experience, but one of the things I noticed instantly going between jobs is that the better people are working at a job, and the more they're trusted, the less they're expected to spend all their time working. It's assumed that they know themselves how much time they'll need to get their work done. (As an anecdote, I'll provide the story of the people at the close-knit writing program I attended a few years ago. We were given eight hours a day to write, probably spent two hours writing at most and six hours on Youtube.)

rizzn 17y ago
"Do you expect people to sit in front of a screen for sixteen hours a day, being constantly productive?" If I can do it, so can they. Perhaps not for 16 hours a day. I tend to cut myself off at 12 or 14 (call me a slacker). A smaller dedicated staff with an ethos of accountability beats out a large supposedly genius and top notch staff that has a reputation for playing games during the majority of their shift. "It's evolving faster as a site than any other web site that large." Constant change does not equal success, either in UX or fiscal reward. They've yet to be decidedly in the black, they've yet to find a solid business model, and they've yet to find dedicated evangelists in the tech blogosphere at large. They're simply growing because they're growing, and that momentum won't last forever (again, ask FriendFeed, Myspace, Friendster, Six Degrees of Seperation, Orkut, Yahoo 360, and the rest of the zombies beckoning from the graveyard).