[arcticbull]

Didn’t the baby bells that came out of AT&T all merge back into the new at&t? Notice the capitalizations there representative of their corporate logotype at the respective times in the narrative arc. How could we avoid that happening in 10-20 years?

[edit] Further, im not sure how you’d slice it up horizontally instead of vertically - that is to say Facebook is Facebook for “millennials,” Instagram is Facebook for gen z“. It feels like each of these vertical slices retain the same incentive structure they have today but targeting different demographics.

What could slicing it horizontally look like? An independent infra AWS? A social graph? Curious your thoughts.

I think the problem is the incentive structure - a company goaled on engagement will focus on the most engaging content. That’s hate, division, fear and anger. Without a fundamental reimagination of incentives I think the same beast will emerge. The new T-1000 of corporations - as Colbert referred to at&t at the time.

[wombatmobile]

AT&T and the baby bells are not analogous to FB. The analogy is too generous to FB and overstates its importance.

FB is not a medium. It may be a de facto platform for social organisations and advertising, but it's still just an app.

Whilst FB made more money than MySpace and lasted for a longer time, its demise is inevitable for the same reason, and we're seeing the slide occur now.

FB, like AOL and MySpace before it, was fashionable when its feature provided new reach for participants. Sooner or later, these apps reach maximum cachet and after that, they are for "old people".

FB is for old people. And that's not even the worst of its problems.