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How Google Can Beat Facebook Without Google Plus - The Atlantic

Discuss.

12:44 PM May 24 2012

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This is the key paragraph:

"Facebook is about you sharing with the world. Google Plus is about Google understanding you. See the difference? This is why people sometimes say that Google doesn't get social. People don't join Facebook so Facebook can understand them better! In fact, the better Facebook understands them, the more wary of the service they get."

12:41 AM May 25 2012

Yeah, Google seems to carry their info-centric perspective to everything they do, which is impressively consistent and leverages their core competencies but social tools must lead with user experience to really scale. This is where FB succeeds. Problem is FB needs to get more info-centric to effectively monetize and, like you highlighted, we didn't come here for that, okay?

8:48 PM May 25 2012

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We came to FB to selectively infuse our digital identities with our real lives.

9:41 AM Aug 25 2012

And now? Do you still come to Facebook for that?

Because there's a growing group of people who aren't coming to Facebook as much.

10:20 AM Aug 25 2012

FB might have peaked, which might explain investor reluctactance. Okay, no might about it.

10:39 AM Aug 25 2012

Frankly, I'm tired of FB. But it's the social media equivalent of a booty call.

10:41 AM Aug 25 2012

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Meaning it's easy. Lest anyone misinterpret.

11:08 AM Aug 25 2012

Your Facebook fatigue is due to much noise, not enough signal, or something else?

11:12 AM Aug 25 2012

I have noticed a trend of friends who have deactivated accounts or seriously curtailed usage. I inquired about it and some say they're married with kids now and don't necessarily want timeline advertising their previous lives.

I can definitely see this becoming a major trend. Who wants to go back through years of activity and selectively edit? Better to just kill it. Many people may not want a one-stop-shop for their lives.

Facebook, you may have an issue on your hands: If people don't feel privacy controls are adequate and turnkey, they might just bail altogether.

11:23 AM Aug 25 2012

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FB vanilla.

11:42 AM Aug 25 2012

Wow, I've been giving this a lot of thought, Adam! Idont know if it's a signal/noise issue; I've gotgood (and fast) at filtering. Let me ponder a while longer.

3:19 PM Aug 25 2012

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Ah! Not enough originality!

3:21 PM Aug 25 2012

Eric's got it right: It's so much easier to delete an account than sift through everything.

Facebook might be shocked at how willing consumers are to abandon their accounts.

Once upon a time, MySpace was #1. Now, they're less than zero.

7:49 PM Aug 25 2012

Unless it's worth sifting through. FB does some things brilliantly. Again, it's an easy hookup , especially with a mobile device.

8:15 PM Aug 28 2012

What does Facebook do brilliantly?

2:54 PM Aug 26 2012

Okay, I don't know how to rid this box.

6:54 AM Aug 27 2012

Nor this one.

6:54 AM Aug 27 2012

Heh. We'll work on delete.

11:41 AM Aug 27 2012

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Broadly: FB allows me to maintain a loose, low-investment tether with my friends/fam. Specifically: 1) Again, easy smart-phone shares, 2) chats and messaging, 3) pokes (fun, lowest investment), and 4) ability to choose level of privacy at the per-post level <-- important to me. Anecdotally: My neighbor has a jewelry business on Etsy. I frequently like her offerings. An old chum checked out my likes. She's now my neighbor's best customer. Low investment, large reward (neighborliness).

Finally: FB is what it is. LOW INVESTMENT.

8:17 PM Aug 28 2012

There's something to be said for a low investment site.

It's easier to maintain than, say, a blog...

11:42 AM Aug 27 2012

Yesh. (It's not a blog, it's not a tool, it's a place.)

1:16 PM Aug 27 2012

Like a blog, it requires filling in text boxes.

I never really thought of Facebook as a place.

2:01 PM Aug 27 2012

It's a members-only clubhouse that I enter and leave at will.

2:17 PM Aug 27 2012

Would it be better if it weren't members only?

10:07 PM Aug 27 2012

No. These are people *I've* selected for membership. I can de-select or ignore them if they become annoying.

6:49 AM Aug 28 2012

You're like the bouncer at club Geege!

9:03 AM Aug 28 2012

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LOL! Bouncer and doorman. :-)

9:14 AM Aug 28 2012

Testing.

11:08 AM Aug 28 2012

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Is being the bouncer and doorman like being the judge, judy, and executioner?

4:53 PM Aug 28 2012

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On a really good day it is. :-)

Nice Freudian slip, btw.

6:47 PM Aug 28 2012

Autocorrect is not a slip. :)

12:13 AM Aug 29 2012

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