Social Media Companies All Starting To Look the Same (axios.com) 26
Snapchat on Monday launched Spotlight, a video tab within its app that, like TikTok, distributes videos based more on how popular they are than on who created them. Facebook in August launched its TikTok competitor, called Reels. From a report: Snapchat's news comes days after Twitter said it would be adding "Fleets," which are basically Snapchat stories for people who tweet. (Nearly every social media app has launched some version of Stories in the past few years.) Tech platforms used to focus on ways to create wildly different products to attract audiences. Today, they all have similar features, and instead differentiate themselves with their philosophies, values and use cases.
It's because phones all look the same (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
The apps perform a huge number of different functions. It's more because people are all the same (see: recent election [youtu.be]), and the software field is expressing something more akin to hybrid vigor.
Re:It's because phones all look the same (Score:5, Insightful)
The apps perform a huge number of different functions.
Um, addiction and pointless shit total two. Mind telling me what you assume the other functions are?
It's more because people are all the same (see: recent election [youtu.be]), and the software field is expressing something more akin to hybrid vigor.
There's a far more obvious reason those who are somewhat successful are mirroring those who are greatly successful. It's called Greed.
Can they run Emacs or play doom? (Score:2)
if so they are Turing complete and have sufficiently similar hardware requirements that they are all the same.
Immitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery (Score:2)
Or being a copycat is a crime. Not sure which to pick here.
Re: (Score:2)
Looks like any other news aggregator with a comments section.
Now their dating site, Slashr, that was a different experience.
Re: (Score:2)
Slashr is great, Slavic-looking chicks are always trying to show me their tits. Haven't figured out why it's always behind a bit.ly link.
Professor Farnsworth (Score:2)
Good news everyone! The domain name myfacetwittok.com is available!
Fleets for all! (Score:3)
well.. because (Score:2)
They perform the same function.
For any given computer program, there may be many solutions for both UI and algorithm.
However, over time the Varity of possible solutions will be narrowed by a combination of demand requiring features to survive and money ( cutting less used create features for efficiency and profit).
So if you think of a software solutions as being subject to evolutionarily principles you would be in no way surprised to see a similarity of systems ( biological or informational) in the same eco
Not surprising (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
They all peddle the same shit.
The end user; to the advertiser.
Open source take-over opportunity? (Score:2)
When a technology becomes a generic commodity, rather than a novel invention, it seems ripe for creating an open source or public domain replacement. Who will be the Linus of an open-source, distributed social media platform that serves as a good-enough replacement for all of these commercial offerings?
I know some people have attempted this, and a few platforms like "Mastadon" and "Elgg" have their followings. I haven't played with any of them (though to do so is on my to-do list).
What do you think it will
Re: (Score:2)
When a technology becomes a generic commodity, rather than a novel invention, it seems ripe for creating an open source or public domain replacement. Who will be the Linus of an open-source, distributed social media platform that serves as a good-enough replacement for all of these commercial offerings?
So, first off, open source software is one thing, but an open source service is quite another. Facebook doesn't run on my computer, it runs on Facebook's computers. Snapchat doesn't talk to my server, it talks to Snapchat's servers (or their slice of AWS or whatever). Having an open source alternative to commercial software doesn't require someone to host a server for the application to keep running. Slashcode is open source, and there's nothing stopping you from spinning up your own server that runs the sa
It always looked the like the same ads-ful mashup. (Score:2)
Compuserve, AOL, Sierra Online, Geocities, and eventually Facebook - I never got into any of those, but would see older relatives jumping between them all - and yeah, they all followed the same arc.
It's marketing. When it infuses any environment, it sort of shapes those places.
Because it's the money source. Moreover, it's a money source that is actively negotiating to pay less per view as often as it can.
Because of that - it can demand changes. And it DOES get those changes.
They all start out with their
Of course. (Score:2)
Everything that works (i.e. gets a huge userbase) gets copied. Everything that doesn't work (i.e. doesn't attract users, AKA revenue) gets dropped. What other result could there be?
goals have changed (Score:2)
For established players, the goals have changed. When many of these social media companies started they wanted to make something new and different. After becoming established and more popular the goal shifts to eyeballs and profits. To grab an ever larger market share they have to starting adding things that users leave to do elsewhere. The goal is no longer some new and different, its $$$$. This just sets the stage for the next company that wants to actually innovate, won't be long before people grow
It's the WeChat phenomenon (Score:2)
In China the top apps such as WeChat allow the user to do just about everything: shop, buy (eCash), chat, blog, date, book hotels, etc. Users there really like the one-stop-shopping, and WeChat competitors are all trying the same.
And the Chinese gov't likes it because it's easier to keep their Snoopbase up to date. Thus, I suspect they encourage and subsidize it.
I don't know if that will catch on in the US. For one, there's less trust in big companies. Do you really want Zuckerberg et. al. to know about you
Re: (Score:2)
Everything but the kitchen sink
https://beta.techcrunch.com/wp... [techcrunch.com]
I've lost track... (Score:2)
Could it be because they're all ultimately owned by the same people?
Not to surprising that most (Score:2)
Starting? (Score:2)
I haven't been able to tell the difference between SMS, Facebook Messenger, Android Messages, WeChat, Twitter, Snapchat, and all the other clones for a few years now.
Don't even get me started on IRC, Slack, and Teams...
I remember an old dinosaur pointing out that everything in computer science had been invented by 1970. I'm starting to think he was right.
Re: (Score:2)
I haven't been able to tell the difference between SMS, Facebook Messenger, Android Messages, WeChat, Twitter, Snapchat, and all the other clones for a few years now.
SMS is the one that bills each participant per sent and received message unless the participant pays hundreds of USD per year for an unlimited plan, right? That's the difference I always remembered.
Don't even get me started on IRC, Slack, and Teams...
IRC is the one with no server-side logging, so each user has to lease a server on which to run a bouncer in order to read the logs of what was said in a channel while you were away, and no built-in pastebin, file drop, or link preview.
AT&T and Sprint (Score:2)
Imagine if one only allowed specific types of conversations, while the other only allowed a different set of specific conversations?
In the end, SM ends up just being a glorified phone company, and people expect it to be able to use it as such.