[phendrenad2]

Facebook was smart, it wasn't just a social network, it also was an apps and games platform. Remember Farmville? And also many bands ended up putting their merch and tour dates up on FB because it was just so easy.

Then recently it grew a marketplace to take on craigslist and ebay, and added videos (making it a mini youtube or tiktok).

And let's not forget that FB groups are the go-to place for many hobbies. Into old cars? Or old sewing machines? You won't find an active forum for those things, or if you do, they're 1000x more hostile and trollish than FB's groups.

So my question is, where do you draw the line? Was FB marketplace anticompetitive because it pushed out craigslist?

I guess this whole thing is a fishing expedition to see if the justice department can find a smoking gun email where someone says, like, "Let's be anticompetitive with snapchat" or something...

[bredren]

Craigslist has had it coming for a long time.

There are other marketplaces that proved the value of identity and reputation like Mercari and offerup in p2p before fb marketplace launched its own.

I do think FB would stomp or buy other marketplaces, but that there is even a smidgen of opportunity in this space in the US is due to the neglect of buckmaster and newmark.

They went from benevolent dictators to doggedly avoiding any increase in value to users.

This has happened at great detriment to Craigslist users who have been scammed, dealt with well-known but terrible landlords and wasted countless lifetimes due to the shoddy communication features of the site.

I am no fan of Facebook, but have only crocodile tears for Craigslist.

[mike00632]

Have you ever sold anything on Facebook Marketplace? It's shockingly easy. I'm relatively late to the party. When I used it for the first time earlier this year I felt like it was the wave of the future.

[Yhippa]

I was curious, so I just took a look. It feels like a flea market or a yard sale. Except there are people selling $1 PS5's and vehicles with 0 miles driven. Lots of noise on there. Plus you have to deal with selling face-to-face in a COVID environment. Honestly, it feels like Craigslist but somehow more scammy.

[mike00632]

The location based nature really enhances the convenience. Also the connection with Facebook messenger and the fact that your camera is attached to the phone with the app. Like, I think if you decided to sell something right now and don't know anything about Marketplace then you could have an ad up within 3 minutes. It's sometimes even more convenient than throwing things away.

[Tijdreiziger]

Don't forget FB Dating!

[zelly]

turns out people didn't want to swipe right on the same website their grandma uses

good lesson in there that some domains just don't mix

[ojosilva]

And don't FB have Jobs too? Their take on LinkedIN (and Glassdoor, etc) from 2017. I believe that didn't work out either, but I'm not sure, I see job posts floating in FB from time to time. Maybe another example of mixed domains that don't mix well, but I could be wrong.