Andrew Orlowski

Collected Journalism

Tag: Facebook

  • Facebook’s metaverse megalomania reflects a revulsion for humanity

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    “Divine task! Immortal mission!” enthused one excited American politician in 1846. 

    William Gilpin was promoting a doctrine that became known as Manifest Destiny – the idea that Americans were both divinely chosen and uniquely equipped to conquer new territory, and should do so without delay.

    Urged on by exhortations “to animate the many hundred millions of its people, and to cheer them upward”, this would rapidly turn a collection of bickering coastal settlements into a continental empire.

    Now Silicon Valley … Read More

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  • Facebook, Tesco and music platforms

    Facebook, Tesco and music platforms

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    We all know why Facebook has such astronomical valuations. It is already as ubiquitous as Tesco. It is a place a billion people go to: whereas they only ever leave Google search, to go somewhere else. But people hanging around, poking, throwing cows, ignoring the adverts and goofing around doesn’t pay the rent. To increase revenue, Facebook needs to sell more stuff: products and services.

    A Facebook music “dashboard” has long been rumoured: it would be a way of tying … Read More

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  • Facebook: Privatising the internet, one Poke at a time

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    The world has been pretty slow to wake up to the power of Facebook and Google, web services with the power to make internet standards disappear faster than a Poke. But maybe people will sit up now. Mark Zuckerberg’s embrace and extend attitude doesn’t just encompass your data – but email protocols too. And there’s very little you’re going to be able to do about it.

    At a typically oversold launch event yesterday, Zuckerberg complained about the “friction” generated by … Read More

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  • I’m in privacy trouble … bitch

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    Three weeks ago, Facebook unveiled a three prong strategy to monetize its active base of 50m users. (See http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/09/facebook_analysis/.) It hasn’t taken long for one those prongs to go prang.

    Facebook’s privacy-busting referral scheme called Beacon is to be modified. If you buy something elsewhere on the web, this information is piped back into your Facebook profile, so your social network can see what you’ve just bought.

    Facebook already offered something similar, but with an opt-in model. This opted … Read More

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  • I’m a walking billboard… bitch

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    On Wednesday, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg boasted that the “next 100 years” of advertising began here.

    On the face of it, it looked like Web 2.0 had found its “Long Boom” moment. Facebook has yet to turn a profit, so Zuckerberg hardly seems in a position to advise other people how to make money – let alone place himself in a pantheon of historic business greats. In Web 2.0-land, merely “being there” is a substitute for having “made it”.

    But … Read More

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