[_Algernon_]

Translation: After going through a far too large number of focus groups that didn't want it we finally found one that phrased a reply in such a way, that after removing context and playing Chinese whispers up the management chain, can be interpreted as them wanting ads.

[TeMPOraL]

Nah, it's even simpler than that: after shoving enough surveys in users' faces (as they seem to semi-regularly do across all Meta products; I've had at least 2 in WhatsApp alone over the past few months), they've collected enough misclicks and drunk responses to be able to interpret them as lots of people wanting ads.

[imiric]

You think this decision was based on user feedback at all?

The simplest explanation is that they want more revenue, and WhatsApp users were an obvious source they weren't exploiting enough.

[TeMPOraL]

Obviously, but Data Is King, so you need some to wipe and cover your ass even internally.

[PaulHoule]

I was playing a lot of Beat Saber in April and got a survey which asked bizzare questions like “Do I want to use VR to manage my calendar?” They went so far as to ask for times I might be available for a focus group then they ghosted me.

[averageRoyalty]

Australian?

We're one of only a few countries[1] who call the game Chinese Whispers.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_game

[ben_w]

Not the OP, but FWIW I'm British and we also called it that in the late 80s.

[arrowsmith]

Don't we still call it that now?

[ben_w]

Dunno, the people I know only played it in primary school. And I left the country in 2018.

Words can change meaning a lot in a lifetime. Not too long ago, someone here called me out for saying "transvestite", which was a surprise given one of my favourite comedians called themselves an "executive transvestite": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dress_to_Kill_(Eddie_Izzard)

And my mum, when her Alzheimer's was already bad but not quite bad enough she couldn't live in her own home, referred to the cupboard as a "glory hole" — I'd never been aware of meaning #9 until she used it so, "(Scotland and Northern England) A deep built-in cupboard under the eaves or stairs of a house used for general storage, particularly of unrelated or unwanted items stored in some disorder": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glory_hole

Still, could be worse, as I found out when my grandmother used the word "Irish" in the derogatory sense: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Irish#Adjective

[megaloblasto]

It's telephone now

[arrowsmith]

I'm 34 and I have never heard anyone in the UK refer to this game as "telephone" (although I'm aware that that's what Americans call it.)

Is this what the kids say now? Am I getting old?

[tialaramex]

As with "Chinese Fire drill" (referring to disorganised and chaotic efforts) the problem is that it's racist. Not like mid-20th century US "People who look different are the enemy" level racist, but it's still objectionable.

So we should avoid doing this, "Telephone" is a perfectly good name for this idea, and it's not racist. There are lots of small changes we can make, which make the world slightly better for everybody.

[averageRoyalty]

You've made a gross assumption about the etymology of the term. There are multiple theories about the origin, some of the racist and some of them not.