I came to the conclusion that there is definitely an ad network listening in to private conversations on users' phones and that network probably belongs to Facebook.
Recently, I was cleaning my apartment and I moved a heavy piece of furniture to vacuum the dust underneath it and I found a set of clear plastic retainers for teeth.
They must have belonged to the previous tenant who had moved out about 6 months earlier.
The retainers looked like they were 3D printed (lots of small ridges on them) and I told my wife that when I had mine (a decade earlier), they were kind of expensive but these ones were 3D printed so they must be a lot cheaper and we can probably just throw them away.
The conversation lasted no more than a minute.
Next day, I was browsing yahoo.com and the ad banner had a picture of a clear plastic retainer and was advertising 3D printed retainers.
Neither me not my wife had posted anything about the retainers anywhere or discussed it with anyone else or even looked it up on any website (neither of us cares about the subject at all; neither dentistry nor 3D printing).
This is the first time I ever saw advertising related to dentistry or 3D printing.
This is not the first time that I've experienced a creepy ad but it was definitely the most disturbing because:
1. It was an extremely specific and niche subject matter which does not relate to me in any way; it was based on an extremely unlikely freak occurrence.
2. I only spoke about it with my wife in an extremely casual way. Neither of us looked it up online on any website afterwards (we verified). The subject matter only occupied our thoughts for an extremely small amount of time.
3. The ad came up the next day after having the conversation.
I have had similar stuff come up, the most cut and dried example I could pinpoint was when on a Sunday morning, Meet the Press, which after the 2016 election I had started watching each week, was pushed off in place of a golf tournament that week. I got distracted, and started just doing some stuff around the house while it was on in the background.
I have no interest in golf, I have never searched or cared about golf in any way whatsoever. Yet, the next few weeks I started getting ads about golf stuff in FB. The only other real explanation would be that Verizon is selling my viewing information and this is somehow being linked back to my FB account.
There's this famous picture of Zuckerberg with tape over parts of a MacBook Pro next to him implying that whoever that computer belonged to didn't feel that even Apple's security was enough to protect their privacy. (I can't remember if that's suppose to be his laptop or just one he's coincidentally next to)
It's totally anecdotal, but most people I know have either stopped using Facebook or are much less active than previously. The few teenagers I know don't even use it at all.
I guess all that growth must come from countries that recently got into Facebook.
The people you know may not be representative. I agree that it seems that less people use FB to share stuff about their life or follow friends and family. But many people also shifted their main usage of FB, so it's not that they are not using it all, just use it differently. That's at least my impression based on the little data I have. I'm talking about things like FB groups, market place and others that are pretty popular.
Oddly enough my experience is that use has only increased in my parents generation (the 75+ crowd). From my admittedly small glimpse into their circle of "friends" it seems that much of their use is a non-stop rage fest around politics.
No, it’s that anecdotal experience doesn’t really say much about a global platform.
Teenagers usually don’t use FB. They have other means to keep in touch with their peer group and they don’t want to be on the same platform as adults are on. But you see once they move away and want to keep in touch with family, they are more likely to be on it.
They are reporting their users now across Whatsapp, instagram, and FB. While almost everyone I know hardly logs into the FB property, we're still really active on WhatsApp.....and that counts towards their 2.5b monthly user metric.
I use it more than ever! It's where everyone organizes events, says they're interested in festivals so they know which friends are going, forms groups around.
Same here. My group of friends we all have an account but we very rarely post anything. I only connect maybe once a week max to see if I have some notifications.
Every once in a while I think about deleting my account but then I remember I have all those people I know only through Facebook.
I agree, teens dont use facebook. But in College, everything changes. Its the easiest platform to coordinate events across hundreds of people you might not even know. Theres just a bunch of cases that no other platform covers, like finding clubs and events, promoting your party, or even selling donuts to fundraise. It does everything on one platform that everyone has. We don't like facebook, but there is simply no alternative.
> I guess all that growth must come from countries that recently got into Facebook.
I have worked for companies with big, really big, user bases. As time passes companies get way better at getting more value from each user. They have more data. They have better software to offer promotions, advertisements, etc. You may be better off with half the users but getting more money from each one of them than with more users but giving low value. Depending on where the lines in the graph cross less users and more money is possible.
I have missed meetups, other social engagements, family photo shares, news and such that were on FB only. Get routinely made fun of by family and friends since I am the "techy" who is "afraid" of technology as they say.
But people I care about I contact via email, chat, talk in person or phone. Maybe I am strange and I just never felt the need to either broadcast to everyone what I am doing or keep an eye on what everyone else is doing unless I am talking to them one one one.
My impression (also anecdotal) is that while there are people who have given up Facebook, or are using it less, they're a small percentage.
Most of what I've noticed is people no longer posting something on Facebook, then Instygram, then Twitter, then Tumblr, then whatever else is out there. They seem to be coalescing into one or two favored platforms.
usage has shifted less from "posting baby pictures omg omg omg" to more facebook groups and business pages and stuff. Which is likely better for Facebook and exactly what they want (well, they'd probably rather have both, but if they can only have one..)
I remember reading a while back (It may have been on here but I can't find it!) that the growth wasn't the big ticket issue facing them it was the lack of sharing!
People were sharing less and that seemed to be a major issue for them.
I have a bunch of friends who barely used it to begin with. More recently, most of the people I'm closest to who did have stopped using it. I think my aunts and uncles use it more these days though?
I can also anecdotally confirm that I myself and most of my friends very rarely use Facebook anymore. I imagine that my browser or devices are still pinging FB on my behalf and counting me as an "active user" even though I haven't browsed the app or site in more than a year.
I'm betting that an FTC antitrust probe will have no effect on other nations using FB. I lived in Brazil, and it was typically a year or two behind the trending here in the US. While US use of FB is down in their previous major demographics, it is spiking internationally.
The last part of the opening sentence has it (emphasis mine):
Facebook Inc (FB.O) beat analysts’ estimates for revenue on Wednesday, even as the world’s largest social network agreed to pay a $5 billion fine over data privacy and announced a U.S. antitrust investigation.
Seriously asking: why not? Do you just not believe that scale is possible?
I hadn't thought about it, but let's make a few assumptions and see how realistic that is.
* 7.7B people in the world.
* Subtract 1.4B people in China (even though plenty of those people actually have FB and login when abroad or via VPN, there are more countries where Facebook is blocked, plus outliers where usage is low).
* We don't want to count people who are really young. There's also a decay in popularity related entirely to age. I'm going to use ages 15-64, simply because the World Bank made it easy to get an estimate: ~65% of the global population[0].
* We have (7.7-1.4) x .65 = ~4.01B people between 15 and 64 years old in countries with Facebook. Given that Facebook growth skews towards countries with younger populations, I'd say this is a hard floor on what I'll call the "eligible Facebook population".
50% is high at first glance, but keep in mind that we've already excluded most of the low hanging fruit that would make it definitionally impossible for someone to use Facebook. I'd say their number is high, but not spit-take high.
I'd wager they have 2.41 B monthly active accounts, but not users. My mom has something like 3 accounts. Where my wife is from, everyone seems to have at least 2 accounts, sometimes many more. And I'm sure millions, if not hundreds of millions, are the same. I wouldn't be surprised if their MAU surpassed the population of many locales, but they'd never admit as much.
I don’t get this metric especially after they specifically disclosed that their metrics could be off by as much as 5% last quarter from “fake” accounts (which they oddly didn’t disclose financially).
I wonder if "people who visit a website with a facebook tracking script that have been successfully fingerprinted" count as a user. If so I could believe that number
Facebook has the same problem the Republican party has. Their users/supporters are all dying and less and less people are signing up. However they are still a force to reckon with and generate a lot of cash.
Is it a problem? Older people are more likely to vote and spend more time on Facebook. Older people have more money to donate to parties and spend on products they are advertised.
If it is a problem, it sounds like a great one to have. What's best: new old people are being made every day and they are a huge cohort right now.
This will also surprise the youth-o-philes in SV, but young people eventually grow up to be old people and they almost always change drastically in political views, media consumption, and purchase decisions. Sure, they probably won't be on Facebook and the current Republican party will change, but that just means Instagram will be the new old people place and the future Republicans will have made their mark.
[+] [-] cryptica|6 years ago|reply
Recently, I was cleaning my apartment and I moved a heavy piece of furniture to vacuum the dust underneath it and I found a set of clear plastic retainers for teeth. They must have belonged to the previous tenant who had moved out about 6 months earlier. The retainers looked like they were 3D printed (lots of small ridges on them) and I told my wife that when I had mine (a decade earlier), they were kind of expensive but these ones were 3D printed so they must be a lot cheaper and we can probably just throw them away. The conversation lasted no more than a minute.
Next day, I was browsing yahoo.com and the ad banner had a picture of a clear plastic retainer and was advertising 3D printed retainers. Neither me not my wife had posted anything about the retainers anywhere or discussed it with anyone else or even looked it up on any website (neither of us cares about the subject at all; neither dentistry nor 3D printing). This is the first time I ever saw advertising related to dentistry or 3D printing.
This is not the first time that I've experienced a creepy ad but it was definitely the most disturbing because:
1. It was an extremely specific and niche subject matter which does not relate to me in any way; it was based on an extremely unlikely freak occurrence.
2. I only spoke about it with my wife in an extremely casual way. Neither of us looked it up online on any website afterwards (we verified). The subject matter only occupied our thoughts for an extremely small amount of time.
3. The ad came up the next day after having the conversation.
[+] [-] kevstev|6 years ago|reply
I have no interest in golf, I have never searched or cared about golf in any way whatsoever. Yet, the next few weeks I started getting ads about golf stuff in FB. The only other real explanation would be that Verizon is selling my viewing information and this is somehow being linked back to my FB account.
[+] [-] NowThenGoodBad|6 years ago|reply
Here it is: http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5769a61e91058425008...
[+] [-] ejwessel|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pier25|6 years ago|reply
I guess all that growth must come from countries that recently got into Facebook.
[+] [-] tinyhouse|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ChuckMcM|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] scarface74|6 years ago|reply
Teenagers usually don’t use FB. They have other means to keep in touch with their peer group and they don’t want to be on the same platform as adults are on. But you see once they move away and want to keep in touch with family, they are more likely to be on it.
[+] [-] taude|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] basch|6 years ago|reply
About 51% of US/C check facebook or messenger every day, and 67% every month. So 16% of people check it but less than daily.
[+] [-] scarejunba|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rainyMammoth|6 years ago|reply
Every once in a while I think about deleting my account but then I remember I have all those people I know only through Facebook.
[+] [-] obliviousonions|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kartan|6 years ago|reply
I have worked for companies with big, really big, user bases. As time passes companies get way better at getting more value from each user. They have more data. They have better software to offer promotions, advertisements, etc. You may be better off with half the users but getting more money from each one of them than with more users but giving low value. Depending on where the lines in the graph cross less users and more money is possible.
[+] [-] rdtsc|6 years ago|reply
I have missed meetups, other social engagements, family photo shares, news and such that were on FB only. Get routinely made fun of by family and friends since I am the "techy" who is "afraid" of technology as they say.
But people I care about I contact via email, chat, talk in person or phone. Maybe I am strange and I just never felt the need to either broadcast to everyone what I am doing or keep an eye on what everyone else is doing unless I am talking to them one one one.
[+] [-] reaperducer|6 years ago|reply
Most of what I've noticed is people no longer posting something on Facebook, then Instygram, then Twitter, then Tumblr, then whatever else is out there. They seem to be coalescing into one or two favored platforms.
[+] [-] AmericanChopper|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shados|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _Understated_|6 years ago|reply
People were sharing less and that seemed to be a major issue for them.
[+] [-] jammygit|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] uwuhn|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pastor_elm|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] deanstag|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|6 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] jtms|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrgreenfur|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|6 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] newsreview1|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|6 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] baby|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tareqak|6 years ago|reply
Facebook Inc (FB.O) beat analysts’ estimates for revenue on Wednesday, even as the world’s largest social network agreed to pay a $5 billion fine over data privacy and announced a U.S. antitrust investigation.
[+] [-] tareqak|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bliteben|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] the_watcher|6 years ago|reply
I hadn't thought about it, but let's make a few assumptions and see how realistic that is.
* 7.7B people in the world.
* Subtract 1.4B people in China (even though plenty of those people actually have FB and login when abroad or via VPN, there are more countries where Facebook is blocked, plus outliers where usage is low).
* We don't want to count people who are really young. There's also a decay in popularity related entirely to age. I'm going to use ages 15-64, simply because the World Bank made it easy to get an estimate: ~65% of the global population[0].
* We have (7.7-1.4) x .65 = ~4.01B people between 15 and 64 years old in countries with Facebook. Given that Facebook growth skews towards countries with younger populations, I'd say this is a hard floor on what I'll call the "eligible Facebook population".
50% is high at first glance, but keep in mind that we've already excluded most of the low hanging fruit that would make it definitionally impossible for someone to use Facebook. I'd say their number is high, but not spit-take high.
[0] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.1564.TO.ZS
[+] [-] threeseed|6 years ago|reply
It is highly unlikely they are falsely claiming those numbers. What is likely is that they are including loose interactions e.g. OAuth Login as MAUs.
[+] [-] cm2012|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gt565k|6 years ago|reply
Maybe anything using facebook login counts as an activity. I.e. people that login to spotify with FB, but never use FB.
[+] [-] samsonradu|6 years ago|reply
https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-...
[+] [-] axaxs|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spullara|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] patricklorio|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] artemisyna|6 years ago|reply
https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_financials/2019/Q2...
[+] [-] XCSme|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bitxbit|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TheSoftwareGuy|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] miguelmota|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anbop|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yalogin|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tenpies|6 years ago|reply
If it is a problem, it sounds like a great one to have. What's best: new old people are being made every day and they are a huge cohort right now.
This will also surprise the youth-o-philes in SV, but young people eventually grow up to be old people and they almost always change drastically in political views, media consumption, and purchase decisions. Sure, they probably won't be on Facebook and the current Republican party will change, but that just means Instagram will be the new old people place and the future Republicans will have made their mark.
[+] [-] throwaway122378|6 years ago|reply