Facebook pursued chatbots to own the interface for online commerce
Evidence
In 2016 Facebook began a major push for ‘chatbots’ – that is, low-level AI programmes that would converse with users on Facebook’s platform. (This is also why Facebook – and numerous other companies – are investing heavily in AI and the natural language processing needed to enable chatbots.) The bet is that these chatbots will become the preferred way for users to interact with the internet. On this open platform, businesses would be given the tools to develop their own bots and create intuitive means for users to order food, buy a train ticket, or make a dinner reservation. Rather than using a separate app or website for accessing businesses and services, users would simply access them through Facebook’s platform, which would make Facebook’s chatbot platform the primary interface for commercial transactions online. Rather than trying to compete against Google’s search engine or Amazon’s logistics network, Facebook is trying to dominate the e-commerce platform by dominating the interface. — Nick Srnicek, Platform Capitalism, 88
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Facebook weaponizes social proof by dressing commerce as friendship. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1455; Facebook cultivated the self-as-brand among ordinary individuals — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1004
Related
- Facebook weaponizes social proof by dressing commerce as friendship. (similarity 0.86)
- Facebook’s adolescent-designed practices were institutionalized for the whole population (similarity 0.78)
- Facebook cultivated the self-as-brand among ordinary individuals (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Facebook weaponizes social proof by dressing commerce as friendship.
#expands(0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1455 - Facebook cultivated the self-as-brand among ordinary individuals
#expands(0.72) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1004