this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2023
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Ads.
Not only ads, but their app is the only one that supported their NFT system. And their Twitter Spaces clone. And their upcoming shorts feature. And so on. They desperately want to be every other social network, and that means copying features that are mobile-centric.
I really don't get why all these social platforms try so hard to just be copies of each other. I like having diverse and different platforms for different things. Once they all started homogenizing, I really stopped using most social media.
And when LinkedIn added their ripoff of Instagram Stories I was like...aaaaand that's it for me. Why does a professional site need a stories feature?
Because companies don't want money. They don't want a lot of money. They want ALL the money. If another company has a feature that people like and use, then this company wants that money as well. So they either buy that other company or copy and push the feature in the hopes of converting users.
This is why YouTube has these asinine shorts shoved into your layout. They know YT users don't want them. This is why you can't disable them. They know that another company makes money with shorts and they want it - so YOU are gonna use them goddammit.
A third party YouTube app doesn't have to show these shorts so YT wouldn't be able to pressure their users into consuming that format.
I happen to like the shorts. I only wish your shirts subscriptions were separate from your regular subscriptions. Otherwise I don't have any issues with it.
However, I do know a lot of people do take issue with it, and that's okay!
I heard they are planning on adding pants soon, cant wait to see the drama around it
YouTube Pantsβ’ coming soon to a mobile app near you!
That's precisely what they don't want. The modern fight isn't directly for your money, but for your time.
If you're binge watching Netflix... You're not playing a Nintendo game. If you're playing a Nintendo game... You're not listening to Spotify. Or going to the movie theater. And so on.
For social media platforms it's the same. People like short videos now? Well, if Facebook doesn't add them to their app you'll close it and go browse TikTok. In the next board meeting, executives are going to ask the team why the hell are they not working on adding short videos.
It's a vicious battle for your time, and then figuring out later how to monetize that attention. Usually ads.
It's a good point, albeit a highly unfortunate one. No faster way to get me to spend less time in your app than to make it the same as all the others, you know?
LinkedIn is the most stupid thing because it is a fucking job board that wants to play to be Facebook and is the most unnecesary thing in the world. Before the Instagram Stories clone they were already too far by adding like 20 other social network features that a page like LinkedIn doesn't need.
You see this in other industries as well. I think every business just wants to be Walmart and an airline at the same time.
Then they would be selling literally everything, no one would shop anywhere else and their prices would adjust automagiclly based on the size of your wallet.
A platform's development is entirely in the hands of its userbase. If the users stay on the platform longer due to a change, they'll make that change and keep it. It just so happens that humans like what humans like, so all social media tries to cater to the same things that humans like, which leads them to implementing the same features because it drives engagement. It's a trend towards mediocrity.
I have to say, there's something peak hilarious to imagining someone at redsit huffing and puffing that "THEY'RE NOT USING OUR NFT's!
Oh dear god, not Shorts.. Everyone's trying to copy the TikTok model with Shorts..
I hate, hate HATE shorts, especially on YouTube.
For my work I sometimes produce 30-60 econd video clips and trying to show them to a client when YT insists on having them in the Shorts format is frustrating. I realise I can change the URL manually to override it, but it's just so stupid. And it also means I can set a custom thumbnail, as Shorts desnt allow that.
It all boils down to the way we consume media, but I feel that some platforms (like Reddit) isn't meant at all for this.
They've gotta reclaim all that lost valuation for their IPO somehow!