What apps are you referencing that Meta/Facebook launched and failed to clone Sn...

john_max_1 · on July 4, 2023

  1. Bonfire - HouseParty clone https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/3/18528317/facebook-bonfire-shutdown-group-video-chat-houseparty-clone
  2. Poke - Snap clone https://www.vox.com/2018/2/17/17022586/facebook-snapchat-poke-clone-mark-zuckerberg-evan-spiegel-billy-gallagher
  3. Slingshot - Snap clone https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/10/snapchat-clones-facebook-copies

Note: Can't seem to find the one for IRL

pavlov · on July 4, 2023

Thing is, these were intentionally created as experiments with the expectation that they would be eventually shut down, with whatever learnings integrated into the mainline apps.

Since about 2017-18 there has been a unit at Facebook called NPE, New Product Experimentation, tasked with producing these.

john_max_1 · on July 5, 2023

You mean Mark Zuckerberg added his voice to Poke knowing that the app wouldn't even exist in a few years?

https://techcrunch.com/2012/12/21/mark-zuckerberg-voice-of-p...

pavlov · on July 5, 2023

That's from 2012. NPE was created around 2017-18 (I don't remember exactly).

john_max_1 · on July 9, 2023

NPE was created in 2017. Facebook had "Labs" in 2011-12. The same idea keeps showing up again and again every few years thanks to a hugely profitable ads business.