Ask HN: How to convince someone that building a Facebook killer is a bad idea?

[smallegan]

I have a friend who is set on building a better Facebook. I've tried explaining that getting Millions of people to switch seems unreasonable but he continues on.

How do I convince him that this is a battle he isn't going to win....or should I?

[protomyth]

You should probably use the same tactics that were used to prevent people from building a MySpace killer. :)

[ladeniran]

Sometimes it's better to let things be...Facebook is far from perfect and while your friends idea seems impossible he just might end up carving up a niche service...not necessarily a Facebook takeover but something that delivers stuff people will find attractive.

[josefresco]

Instead of telling him "you can't do this", try to be positive and give him advice that may help him succeed. Have him consider a niche, angle or feature set that separates his offering from FB.

[code177]

For what reasons would you want to stop him from doing this?

[coryl]

Maybe if his friend was going to dump his life savings into the project, I could see it being pretty reasonable to try and stop him.