This Matt Levine post about Snapchat made me laugh today:
I don’t really understand Snapchat. I sort of understood it for five minutes back when Snap Inc. went public and its prospectus explained how to use it — turns out, the way I learn best is by having things explained to me by securities lawyers — but apparently since then the product has been revamped and now nothing is where it used to be. But my limited understanding is that the basic point of Snapchat is that you open up the app and somehow a Kardashian is there, and then you consume Kardashian content in some way, and your life is, one assumes, better for it. Now however the Kardashians might be leaving
.
Now Kylie does not like Snapchat anymore and her Tweet might have toughed off a wave of selling that has so far wiped $1.3 billon off Snapchat’s valuation.
It’s not just Snapchat…
This piece from Om chronicles how Jonah Peretti, the founder of Buzzfeed, used to love Fabeook. Now…not so much:
OMG! Facebook is amazing!
On Facebook media is just another way to express your feelings and more importantly a way to do something with your friends. On Facebook you share things that define you. Think of your social content not as information you want to get into people’s heads, but as an excuse for people to react. The content matters, but [what matters] more importantly the ability to share a laugh with friend. Techcrunch 2011
Content is for connections, LOL
Facebook is much more tied to broad human emotion and things that everyone can relate to, and things that connect people with the people in their lives. It’s not so much about the information in the content; it’s about how that content allows you to connect with other people in your life. Fortune 2013
Let’s go fishing for eyeballs in the stream.
Social has really become the starting point — the Facebook newsfeed, the Twitter stream — where most people are finding their news and information now. Fortune 2013
Social media has helped us build a unique brand.
The emergence of social media initiated the convergence of content and communication. Content wasn’t just being consumed for informational value; it became a way for people to connect with other people in their lives. This opened up the possibility of building a more intimate connection with audiences. December 2016.
Pay me, waaah!
Google and Facebook are taking the vast majority of ad revenue, and paying content creators far too little for the
value they deliver to users. This puts high-quality creators at a financial disadvantage, and favors publishers of cheap media December 2017
Oh damn, I got played by Zuck!
“I don’t think they fully understand the perspective of media or content or other industries. Or, on occasion, they interact with people at media companies and they don’t think they’re that smart.” Feb 2018
The End.
I think Facebook will be fine.
But, after this week, I think that Twitter stood out as the most important so far in 2018