Conversation

SBF
@SBF_FTX
Replying to
@SBF_FTX
11) But nonetheless, it could still *lose* users and revenue. So it had to help its reputation somehow. So what do you do? Ponies? Free ice cream?
4
65
SBF
@SBF_FTX
12) Remember: it's reputation was, uh, quite bad. So one way to help it is to make people like it more. But another way to help its reputation is just to make people *dislike* it *less*. And one way to do that is with a distraction.
4
75
SBF
@SBF_FTX
13) "Hey everyone look over there, it's ThE mEtAvErSe!" People are no longer thinking about privacy and bullying and poor stock performance. They're wondering what The Metaverse actually means, and why Fake Zuck doesn't have any legs.
12
123
SBF
@SBF_FTX
14) It's not, uh, *positive*, but it doesn't have to be. It just has to be less negative. And something weird and new and confusing and vague and exciting is in fact less negative than privacy concerns and censorship debates.
7
83
SBF
@SBF_FTX
15) Plus, that negative sentiment was directed towards Facebook. What Facebook? Where? This is Meta!
Image
8
116
SBF
@SBF_FTX
16) But my story still doesn't make full sense. Sure, maybe it explains why Facebook became Meta. By why spend $10b per year on fake legs? Remember Facebook's other problem: it couldn't grow anymore, because it had already grown the maximum amount physically possible.
12
94
SBF
@SBF_FTX
17) How do you project growth on your forward looking financial indications when you've built the biggest possible social media company? You do something other than social media, I guess.
5
69
SBF
@SBF_FTX
18) Something with the following properties: a) People think that maybe it could get really big. Like, $100b revenue big. b) If Facebook plows $10b into it people will be like "yes, that is how you make this thing really big, I guess, sure", and not ask any more questions.
7
66
SBF
@SBF_FTX
19) You need something which is everything and nothing. Something which could be the whole world, but where no one knows what to expect or how to know if you're doing it yet. You need The Metaverse.
8
87
SBF
@SBF_FTX
20) And so that could explain why Facebook did it: to distract from its reputational problems, and to project on a vague and unclear and futuristic enough space that they could convince people that maybe they were going to make another $100b from it, Facebook became Meta.
8
107
SBF
@SBF_FTX
Replying to
@SBF_FTX
22) Which makes no sense if this is all a diversion. It's one thing to blow $10b/year on smoke bombs. It's another thing to blow $10b/year on smoke bombs that don't produce very much smoke. Why throw good money after bad?
8
70
SBF
@SBF_FTX
23) So, to be clear, I *do* think that the above claims might be true: Facebook wanted to distract people from its reputation and its lack of headroom for growth, and so it became Meta. But I think there's probably something else, too. Something that explains the next $10b.
10
82
SBF
@SBF_FTX
24) Sometimes the easiest answer is the right one. Zuck is planning to spend tens of billions on building out The Metaverse because he believes in The Metaverse. It was a great distraction. But simultaneously it was also real.
15
172
SBF
@SBF_FTX
25) Facebook has the largest possible social media network on the web. They won. So what's next? Start building Social Media 3.0.
93
353
Show additional replies, including those that may contain offensive content
Show