[HN Gopher] Why you'll leave X (as well as Instagram and all the...
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       Why you'll leave X (as well as Instagram and all the other private
       platforms)
        
       Author : elevensup
       Score  : 11 points
       Date   : 2025-01-23 22:24 UTC (38 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (allr.cat)
 (TXT) w3m dump (allr.cat)
        
       | PaulHoule wrote:
       | I started using online communication platforms around 1985 or so
       | when I got a 300 baud modem and started using computer bulletin
       | boards.
       | 
       | The clear pattern from 1985 to 2005 or so was that every new
       | platform that came along experienced growth for a while and then
       | decline and people involved in such platforms just moved on to
       | whatever new thing replaced the old.
       | 
       | By 2015 Facebook had broken this pattern, and I thought a lot
       | about why, not least was the explanation that Facebook was buying
       | competitors (WhatsApp) and intimidating VCs to discourage
       | competitors (otherwise having to pay $15 billion every few years
       | to buy the next thing would seem like extortion)
       | 
       | Zuckerberg's fanaticism for VR is attributed to the belief that
       | Facebook has a shelf life and they'd better be leading in the
       | next platform.
       | 
       | Now I see it as "normcore people don't want to move away from old
       | platforms and move to the next thing" and that what keeps
       | Facebook alive is that if you want to keep in touch with: (1)
       | your normcore friends and family and (2) community organizations
       | you're stuck with Facebook.
        
         | graemep wrote:
         | I am an admin of yeo FB groups for that reason. Drawn into
         | helping people who are only on FB.
         | 
         | That said, a lot of them hate FB and are there for just the
         | same reason.
        
         | elevensup wrote:
         | In Catalonia, my little country in the Mediterranean,
         | Facebook's pretty much a ghost town, especially for millennials
         | and Gen Z. Moving people away from Instagram, though, feels
         | like a much tougher challenge. These platforms have had over a
         | decade to build up so much stuff for users that leaving just
         | seems like too much effort.
         | 
         | I'm not sure what the future holds, but a more fragmented,
         | federated setup feels like a way better option than sticking
         | with the same old stable monopolies.
        
       | ggm wrote:
       | Left FB and Twitter. Large amount of whining from friends and
       | family left behind. Had to keep whatsapp for work and rowing club
       | info. Promised by whatsapp could remain distinct and not be on FB
       | and now read they are reconsidering this.
       | 
       | Forced to rejoin FB under an assumed name to help seniors (I
       | volunteer) and to read notices from cov-tenants of my condo.
       | 
       | It's become a necessity not a pleasure.
       | 
       | (Online since early 1980s)
        
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       (page generated 2025-01-23 23:03 UTC)