What bothers the hell out of me as an advertiser is that Meta is the bread and butter of the non-TV ad industry. They're like Dotdash Meredith back in the day--when in doubt, just buy Meta. They get you any audience you want, with any targeting, local or national, and you'll always hit your KPIs. And no one cares how many scandals arise about their content (most of which I don't care about either!)
But genuine journalism had the bad luck of running their own websites when transitioning from print, and C-suites hated the periodic airline ad next to a story about a plane crash, etc. Keyword blocklists became the set-it-and-forget-it norm, and they're running on the open internet with one hand tied behind their back. "Let's buy news" opens a can of worms that "let's buy Meta" never does, even when brands have shown they don't care about the content risks of social platforms!
Social platforms should focus on Facebook's success in actually becoming a community hub (AI slop problems aside), and work on revenue sharing and hosting agreements for professional newsrooms. Especially as more and more people get their news from social media anyway, you might as well have the option of reading things that are actually true.
I was with you until terrifying; maybe I just don’t want to believe that. But, if you go back to laughable — I think the bots are a cheap consumer play that for sure has lots of eyeballs, but like the metaverse, is ultimately folly. Are they going to rebrand to MetaGooners now? I think they are a combo of evil with a side of laughable and lucky (and insanely efficient) on the ads front.
All this dystopian stuff is mystifying to me because there's a really obvious, non-exploitative AI business model for Meta -- providing chatbots for business through their brand pages. Google just started doing this with Google Maps.
Facebook got its hooks into a super vulnerable demographic early - we boomers - who combine massive online credulity with massive asset ownership. The ads will keep selling no matter what idiot bets Zuck makes, because FB squats on some of the primest online pickens. I stopped using it a couple years ago, but it’s really tough because it’s the only way to keep in regular touch with people you don’t live in driving distance of.
It almost seems like facebook is a lot like Microsoft around the time bill gates left. Making tons of money but seemingly drifting in compared to their competitors. The metaverse was a dead end , similar to how the windows phone was . They have some good ideas and both still have massive market share but Microsoft eventually had to replace the founders with a more in touch technology executive (Nadella). Maybe it would be better for Zuckerberg to step down. But I think he will probably give a go for a while before he steps down. I feel that he will eventually get the AI thing right , I wouldn’t count on their AI to be substandard forever. Also I think it’s becoming clear that AI is going to be a long term game because every model has its own strengths and weaknesses . Meta needs to find its own niche.
PT Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute." That's because there's a sucker born every minute. And all of us are potential suckers. None of this is new. It's just become more powerful and potentially dangerous. It's also not new to be cynical about this fact. On the other hand, we can build social guard rails and regulations to minimize the danger. Right now we're in a dangerous moment when the cynics and the sociopaths have power. It doesn't have to stay this way.
Genuinely thought provoking stuff here. I've always considered Zuck and Facebook to be like a saturday morning cartoon villian, evil but laughable. But the idea that we are doing this to ourselves is too convincing to ignore.
I’m horrified to think about what X or TikTok’s take on AI characters would be. Either they reach a different and probably bad outcome or they end up in the same sexchatbot slop equilibrium.
What bothers the hell out of me as an advertiser is that Meta is the bread and butter of the non-TV ad industry. They're like Dotdash Meredith back in the day--when in doubt, just buy Meta. They get you any audience you want, with any targeting, local or national, and you'll always hit your KPIs. And no one cares how many scandals arise about their content (most of which I don't care about either!)
But genuine journalism had the bad luck of running their own websites when transitioning from print, and C-suites hated the periodic airline ad next to a story about a plane crash, etc. Keyword blocklists became the set-it-and-forget-it norm, and they're running on the open internet with one hand tied behind their back. "Let's buy news" opens a can of worms that "let's buy Meta" never does, even when brands have shown they don't care about the content risks of social platforms!
Social platforms should focus on Facebook's success in actually becoming a community hub (AI slop problems aside), and work on revenue sharing and hosting agreements for professional newsrooms. Especially as more and more people get their news from social media anyway, you might as well have the option of reading things that are actually true.
I was with you until terrifying; maybe I just don’t want to believe that. But, if you go back to laughable — I think the bots are a cheap consumer play that for sure has lots of eyeballs, but like the metaverse, is ultimately folly. Are they going to rebrand to MetaGooners now? I think they are a combo of evil with a side of laughable and lucky (and insanely efficient) on the ads front.
Getting awful close to blaming The People™ for the problems in society rather than The Man™.
As we all no doubt know, The People™ have never been the cause of any societal ills. It's all been forced upon them.
Can’t wait for Zuck’s Epstein bot.
All this dystopian stuff is mystifying to me because there's a really obvious, non-exploitative AI business model for Meta -- providing chatbots for business through their brand pages. Google just started doing this with Google Maps.
Facebook got its hooks into a super vulnerable demographic early - we boomers - who combine massive online credulity with massive asset ownership. The ads will keep selling no matter what idiot bets Zuck makes, because FB squats on some of the primest online pickens. I stopped using it a couple years ago, but it’s really tough because it’s the only way to keep in regular touch with people you don’t live in driving distance of.
It almost seems like facebook is a lot like Microsoft around the time bill gates left. Making tons of money but seemingly drifting in compared to their competitors. The metaverse was a dead end , similar to how the windows phone was . They have some good ideas and both still have massive market share but Microsoft eventually had to replace the founders with a more in touch technology executive (Nadella). Maybe it would be better for Zuckerberg to step down. But I think he will probably give a go for a while before he steps down. I feel that he will eventually get the AI thing right , I wouldn’t count on their AI to be substandard forever. Also I think it’s becoming clear that AI is going to be a long term game because every model has its own strengths and weaknesses . Meta needs to find its own niche.
PT Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute." That's because there's a sucker born every minute. And all of us are potential suckers. None of this is new. It's just become more powerful and potentially dangerous. It's also not new to be cynical about this fact. On the other hand, we can build social guard rails and regulations to minimize the danger. Right now we're in a dangerous moment when the cynics and the sociopaths have power. It doesn't have to stay this way.
Genuinely thought provoking stuff here. I've always considered Zuck and Facebook to be like a saturday morning cartoon villian, evil but laughable. But the idea that we are doing this to ourselves is too convincing to ignore.
I’m horrified to think about what X or TikTok’s take on AI characters would be. Either they reach a different and probably bad outcome or they end up in the same sexchatbot slop equilibrium.
If he builds a chatbot for gooners he can rename the company FacePalm 🤨