[john_max_1]

So. multiple attempts at cloning Snap, HouseParty, IRL etc. into standalone products were unique. And this one is just a minor tweak on Instagram? Let's discuss this in another 6 months. I can't predict what the future of Twitter is, but Threads would have been shuttered by then.

[TechBro8615]

Snap was cloned extremely effectively within Instagram (stories). So was TikTok (reels). I'm actually surprised they aren't taking the same strategy here. Why create a new app? Why not add Threads to the existing Instagram, in the same way as Stories and Reels?

[jadtz]

Instagram would get too bloated if they do that, but Reels + Instagram makes sense.

[mtrpcic]

What apps are you referencing that Meta/Facebook launched and failed to clone Snap/Houseparty/IRL? Their snap competitor is Instagram, and it's still doing very well. Instagram is _also_ their TikTok competitor, and Reels has done a solid job in that space as well.

[john_max_1]

  1. Bonfire - HouseParty clone https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/3/18528317/facebook-bonfire-shutdown-group-video-chat-houseparty-clone
  2. Poke - Snap clone https://www.vox.com/2018/2/17/17022586/facebook-snapchat-poke-clone-mark-zuckerberg-evan-spiegel-billy-gallagher
  3. Slingshot - Snap clone https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/10/snapchat-clones-facebook-copies

Note: Can't seem to find the one for IRL

[pavlov]

Thing is, these were intentionally created as experiments with the expectation that they would be eventually shut down, with whatever learnings integrated into the mainline apps.

Since about 2017-18 there has been a unit at Facebook called NPE, New Product Experimentation, tasked with producing these.

[john_max_1]

You mean Mark Zuckerberg added his voice to Poke knowing that the app wouldn't even exist in a few years?

https://techcrunch.com/2012/12/21/mark-zuckerberg-voice-of-p...

[pavlov]

That's from 2012. NPE was created around 2017-18 (I don't remember exactly).

[john_max_1]

NPE was created in 2017. Facebook had "Labs" in 2011-12. The same idea keeps showing up again and again every few years thanks to a hugely profitable ads business.