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I wonder what's the net value Meta offers for the world today. I had a similar thought about Elon the other day, for all his billions, only several million peop

I wonder what's the net value Meta offers for the world today. I had a similar thought about Elon the other day, for all his billions, only several million people use Tesla or Starlink, and SpaceX is cool I guess, but value and wealth don't seem to be strongly coupled. How many Tesla investors have managed to cash out and how many of Facebook's advertisers managed to turn a profit?

alansaber 9d ago
We've rediscovered the need for academia from first principles
ben_w 9d ago
Aye. > How many Tesla's investors have managed to cash out and how many of Facebook's advertisers managed to turn a profit? It me. That said, I didn't buy TSLA because I was expecting to cash out a few years later when he started acting like a threat to democracy and his own judicial system; when I bought it I thought they had a good business model and I thought they were undervalued. Now they're overvalued, have lots of visible competitors eating their lunch. Worse, even if they succeed, given Musk has yet to pay out dividends on that stock and also enough control over the board to give him as many shares as he wants, I think even success would render the stock monopoly money.
rapsey 9d ago
Musk probably made more dollar millionaires than anyone in history. Facebook advertisers use it because it works and reaches a hell of a lot of people.
- dumberquestions 9d ago
  I don't think Facebook advertisers are being particularly irrational, it's just very interesting to point out how this ad business, despite leaving most of its users ultimately unsatisfied, can be so profitable.
  - rapsey 9d ago
    I think you are projecting your biases.
    - dumberquestions 9d ago
      I’m probably biased, but do you really think Meta is, on net, a positive to the world?
      - rapsey 9d ago
        I don't think that is an answerable question. It is just an excuse for people justifying a hamfisted intervention into society that actually would do more harm than good. There is a malaise in the west and Meta is just a symptom. More institutional power is a bad idea when institutions are dysfunctional.

alansaber 9d ago

We've rediscovered the need for academia from first principles

ben_w 9d ago

Aye. > How many Tesla's investors have managed to cash out and how many of Facebook's advertisers managed to turn a profit? It me. That said, I didn't buy TSLA because I was expecting to cash out a few years later when he started acting like a threat to democracy and his own judicial system; when I bought it I thought they had a good business model and I thought they were undervalued. Now they're overvalued, have lots of visible competitors eating their lunch. Worse, even if they succeed, given Musk has yet to pay out dividends on that stock and also enough control over the board to give him as many shares as he wants, I think even success would render the stock monopoly money.

rapsey 9d ago

Musk probably made more dollar millionaires than anyone in history. Facebook advertisers use it because it works and reaches a hell of a lot of people.

dumberquestions 9d ago
I don't think Facebook advertisers are being particularly irrational, it's just very interesting to point out how this ad business, despite leaving most of its users ultimately unsatisfied, can be so profitable.
- rapsey 9d ago
  I think you are projecting your biases.
  - dumberquestions 9d ago
    I’m probably biased, but do you really think Meta is, on net, a positive to the world?
    - rapsey 9d ago
      I don't think that is an answerable question. It is just an excuse for people justifying a hamfisted intervention into society that actually would do more harm than good. There is a malaise in the west and Meta is just a symptom. More institutional power is a bad idea when institutions are dysfunctional.