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by ucaetano 2771 days ago
> But being blue isn't a defining feature of Facebook

Indeed, nor is it a defining feature of the market. That is exactly my point: if your labe of "monopoly" relies on a non-defining feature of a market that sets it apart from other markets (meaning that there is little competition between borders), you definition of monopoly is useless.
1 comments
RugnirViking 2770 days ago
If somebody can usefully use both commodities at once - (using facebook and twitter) I would say that those two companies aren't competing to the point where they can be called the same market.
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ucaetano 2770 days ago
Of course they are. They are competing for eyeballs, user actions and for ads.
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RugnirViking 2770 days ago
Thats pretty reductionist - so is every newspaper, cinema, and television station. Perhaps your argument is that if a single company controlled all news, television companies and film studios, as well as several large social media properties, they would not be a monopoly - so long as some other large companies existed that competed in other ways for people's time? I mean I can see why you could draw such a conclusion, but I hope that you can also understand the other side that would suggest that a large company like that would be inherently harmful without actually deliberately leveraging its market share in anticompetetive ways.
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ucaetano 2770 days ago
> Thats pretty reductionist - so is every newspaper, cinema, and television station.

Indeed, and that's the key point here. That's what people are failing to understand.

> other side that would suggest that a large company like that would be inherently harmful without actually deliberately leveraging its market share in anticompetetive ways

You might claim that, but your burden of proof is very, very high. And that has nothing to do with monopoly or anti-trust, so you need to create a new law and regulatory framework to act on.

As I mentioned in another comment: The Supreme Court has defined market power as "the ability to raise prices above those that would be charged in a competitive market,"(8) and monopoly power as "the power to control prices or exclude competition."

CPMs are falling, users never had so much choice, and DDG, Snapchat and Tik Tok can easily enter the search, social media and ads market.

In other words, even if what you're saying is true, it has nothing to do with this discussion.

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