The recurring cycle of online communities now catches up to Facebook


All online communities die, but Facebook’s slow obsolescence seems entirely self-inflicted. They could go back to have a simple Wall, which is all that people actually want. But that would mean accepting less money for advertisements. Apparently that is not an option? Remarkable that they will chase the money straight up to the moment they are doomed.


Instagram is designed to be used as it is actually used: as a posturing tool.

On Facebook you could share a moment with friends. With Instagram, however, moments are projected at you.

I miss Facebook
I miss knowing how my online friends are really doing these days. Being able to go through their life, their personal updates, the ups and the downs.

I miss spontaneous updates at 3 am, last-minute party invites, making good friends with people who I just met once in person and now live thousands of kilometers away.

I miss going through profiles of people to learn what kind of music and movies they liked, and feeling this serendipitous connection based on shared interests with someone I did not know that well in real life.

I miss the opportunity of sharing a lighthearted comment with hundreds of people that understand me and will interpret it in the most candid way, instead of the nitpicking and criticism of Twitter.

I miss the ability to tell something to my friends without the need of sharing a picture, the first-class citizen treatment of text.

I miss the degree of casual social interaction that Facebook encouraged, where it was fine to engage with people sporadically. On the contrary, getting a comment or a Like from a random acquaintance could make your day.

I miss when things online were more real, more open.

I miss peak Facebook; not just the tool, but the community it created.

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