How Facebook Killed Online Chat

hackaday.com

22 pointssharpshadow2 comments

I still remember the moment I felt the shift. IRC, AIM, MSN, Pidgin, forums, they all used to feel like getting to spend time with my friends. Even GChat and Facebook Messenger weren't bad at first.

Then, all of a sudden, Facebook felt like being trapped in a small room with everyone I knew at all times, seeing that wall of green dots. It felt like a visceral push away from everyone in my life, honestly: I was no longer "going online" to signal availability to my friends, I was now simply always available to friends, family, coworkers, friends' family, etc. (or else now explicitly being _antisocial_ by avoiding Facebook.)

Discords and Group Chats are slowly making their way back into being the default social media for friend groups and acquaintances. New apps like Partiful have been trying to move the last bastion of Facebook (events invites) out and in my own social circles it has been a resounding success and has completely killed off FB as a social media.

The kids use it much more asynchronously too. Especially Discord, because leaving notifications on will overwhelm your phone.

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